


Gospel

by Mae_Liz



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Femdom, Fluff, If You've Seen The Show Then You Know What That Means, Lucifer Being Lucifer, Multi, Pegging, Polyamory, Sex Positive, Smut, Switch Lucifer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-03-18 15:04:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13684116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mae_Liz/pseuds/Mae_Liz
Summary: When a blast from Lucifer's past joins his present, he has to figure out where she fits in his new life. Will they be able to pick up where they left off, or has too much changed?





	1. Let There Be Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are plenty of things the devil has to worry about. Lux. Hell. Cain. Chloe. But when he's engaged in raw debauchery, Lucifer never worries about a thing.

For someone who overthought almost everything, Lucifer had a knack for letting go. Truly letting go. Erasing every care and concern so that he could just _feel_. And Lucifer loved just how much he could feel.

His face being shoved into the mattress wasn’t the most comfortable position, though he expected that to be the point. The woman atop him made up for it in different ways. One being the manner in which her thick, soft hair fell against his back, another was how her hand knotted in his own hair. Her other hand, of course, firmly squeezing the base of his erection better than any cock ring could. It was all so wonderful. Though the _most_ wonderful thing of it all was the way the firm strap on massaged him with each roll of the woman's hips.

She was no novice. Lucifer wasn’t sure when the dildo had first come in contact with that delectable spot inside of him, but he knew it had been there for a while. He reveled in being able to meet each of the woman's motions with his own hips. The two of them, massaging his prostate over and over, and sure enough, fiber by unholy fiber, the devil was coming undone. Not that it would mean much until the iron hold on his dick was released. A request which the woman did not wait for, nor one that Lucifer would have made in the first place. He was more than happy to take whatever she gave. Despite that, the moan that escaped when her right hand loosened its hold and began to stroke him, proved just how much Lucifer had desired the friction.

He wasn’t scolded for the pleasured sound simply because he had not been told to keep quiet. The woman doubted she would have corrected him even if she had commanded his silence. She knew how skilled she was. How tormentingly accurate her motions were. Anyone would be powerless to having their ass fucked and cock stroked in such a perfect and simultaneous rhythm. And when it was _her_ doing the fucking, the devil was especially weak to it. A fact that was made clear as Lucifer’s muscles shifted. The woman could see how his shoulder blades pulled together the closer he drew to his orgasm, and deemed it a visual symphony.

When the hand against Lucifer’s head forced his skull ever forward, he was forced up onto wobbly arms and made to look upon his companions ministrations. Namely, her beautiful hand dragging his cock to its own heaven. The grip in Lucifer’s hair kept him gazing upon it even as his abdomen tensed, stars filled his vision, and his orgasm threatened his balance; with warm semen sputtering from his cock and landing, in part, against his face.

Lucifer didn’t mind the assault on his handsome features. He didn’t mind anything after the flood of oxytocin that slammed into his brain. The devil didn’t even realize the woman had pulled out until she was rolling him onto his back and practically sitting him up herself. The ruby smile she gave was caring, but still slightly predatory.

“My gorgeous starling…” She cooed, sending butterflies straight to Lucifer’s stomach. “Look at the mess you’ve made.” In a moment her hand was on his face and smearing Lucifer’s own fluids further across his features before looking him over. “Still beautiful nonetheless.” She praised before standing and slipping out of the harness, adopting a more docile demeanor. “Let’s go clean up, Lucifer.” 

***** _Earlier That Night_ *****

The evening had started out rather uneventful, as far as Lucifer was concerned. Not that a night at Lux was ever boring, but it was the usual partying. Drunken club-goers. Loud music. Sexy dancers. With the devil there to fuel it all. Lucifer had been so engrossed in the run-of-the-mill fun, that he remained obviously unaware of Lux’s newest patron.

She was a beautiful dark haired woman with olive skin and long legs. A beautiful woman who was not buying any drinks because random partiers kept buying them for her. Some of which she even drank. However, aside from polite conversation, the stranger showed her would-be-wooers no interest. It didn’t go unnoticed by them that she kept eyeing the venues owner, it just took a while for someone to point it out.

“Looks like someone has the hots for you, Morningstar.” A woman, a regular, hummed as she sat beside the devil at the bar and ordered herself a shot.

“I’m flattered my dear.” Lucifer said in his regular flirty tone as the barkeep tended to them both. “Frankly, I was under the impression that we'd never have a romp in the sheets.”

She threw back her shot and barked out a harsh laugh. “Ha! We won’t. I’ve told you before, you’ve got one to many _limbs_ for me. But that beauty over there can’t take her eyes off you.”

Lucifer followed his friends nod across the club, and the sight of the woman so elegantly perched on the couch stopped his hand before his glass could reach his lips. It took the devil a moment to regain his bearings as his body seemed to move on its own; setting the whisky aside and heading over to her. He’d recognize her anywhere.

Isobel may have been a stranger to Lux, but not to Lucifer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter one of a thing that's been stewing in my head. I'm using this fic as a way to practice my writing without having to come up with a whole original story line and all original characters. It's not the first fanfic I've written, but it's the first I've posted on this site, or anywhere. So, any and all constructive criticisms are VERY welcome. 
> 
> With any luck I will be updating this every Wednesday.


	2. Practice Hospitality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>    
>  Tags have been updated/changed to better match the story  
>    
> 

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to put that there?”

Lucifer had expected something to be said about him not getting up until noon, or his mention of how the orange juice in screwdrivers made them a breakfast food. He did not think that placing a cocktail on the piano would be what Isobel chose to chastise him for. Of course, the devil knew she wasn’t _really_ scolding him. Rather, she was trying to question his choices in a way that didn’t bruise his ego. 

“Should I remove the ashtray as well?” The offer was clearly sarcastic and she raised a brow at it.

“Don’t ask if you already know the answer.”

“I’ve been putting things on it for years!”

“Oh, relax.” Isobel leaned against the piano and dragged her fingertips along the sleek wood. “I just worry about it. It’s beautiful.” Her admiration of the instrument ended with a small shrug when she turned her attention back to her host. “You can do what you want. This is your home and I’m only visiting.”

“Yes, _visiting_.” Lucifer tossed the word around in his mind. “What hotel was it you were staying at?” Her silence was answer enough and the devil tried to hide his disappointment by sipping his drink, but the drop in his voice gave it away. “Just passing through, then.”

“Lucifer, I came to check on you for myself. Not to intrude, or see the sights, or visit beaches.”

“I wouldn’t call it an intrusion.” The words escaped him in a light laugh. “You’re more than welcome to stay at Lux.”

Isobel looked around like she was missing something. Living area. Bedroom. Bathroom. Balcony. Bar. The penthouse really was a bachelor pad if ever she’d seen one. “Where, _at Lux_ , would I stay, exactly?”

“In my bed with me, of course. If memory serves, you never required much rest.” 

“No, but I do enjoy sleeping from time to time.” She tried to adopt a more serious tone in order to hide her amusement at his jest. “Besides, I don’t want to take any time or space away from your, no doubt endless, lovers.”

“There’s no need for them with you here.”

“I doubt that. And if that’s true, little warbler, then I worry about you.”

“You already _do_ worry about me.” He pointed out before finishing his drink and adjusting the cord that held his robe closed so he could stand without being completely immodest. Devil or not, Lucifer was still a gentleman. “I’m using several floors of this building for storage. All I have to do is clear one of them out and, voilà! You’ll have your own suite.” His charming smile had Isobel considering the offer.

“Fine. So long as I’ll be able to get some peace away from the club and your house parties.”

“Wonderful! We’ll go shopping this afternoon.”

“Shopping?”

“You can’t run around in _that_ forever.” He gestured to the button down shirt she had swiped from his collection. “Even if you do look absolutely edible in red.” Unfortunately for him, the flirtation was lost on her.

“I do have some of my own clothes, you know. It’s not like I just up and hitchhiked to California in a cocktail dress.” 

“Well you certainly didn’t bring a suitcase.”

Isobel crossed her arms over her chest with a pause. “I brought a big purse.”

“We both know you don’t have a full wardrobe hidden in that that knockoff.”

Lucifer had never imagined it would be so hard to find clothes for someone. Sure, it was easy enough to find things he _thought_ would be flattering on Isobel. She was a universal beauty and built like a goddess. A _greek_ goddess. Though it was those sinful curves that made it difficult to find anything in her size. Most of the Los Angeles fashion scene catered to the generic supermodel ideal. Tall and thin. A standard which she did not meet with her voluptuous figure standing at five foot seven. 

To her credit, Isobel had managed to humor her guide as he led her in and out of countless high end shops. More often than not, exiting a store without a purchase. After nearly three hours, however, her patience was wearing thin. Not with Lucifer’s effort or the failed splurging, but with the shopping itself. She had come to the city of angels to visit him, not the stores.

“Buy whatever you think looks good, Lucifer, and then get it tailored.” She finally huffed after trying on yet another pair of slacks that fit her hips, but were way too long.

“Allowing me to pick your outfits for you? That’s quite a turn of the tables.”

“Only because I’d be fine if we just got jeans and t-shirts, but you insist on all of _this_.” She spread her arms to draw attention to the expensive clothes that hung around the dressing room. The smirk on Lucifer’s face turned into a frown and Isobel mentally kicked herself. “Sweet lark, I’m not judging you.” She assured him while closing the space between them. “You are successful and should be proud of it. _I_ am proud of you.” Her hand went up to caress his cheek a moment before it fell to her side again. “I just don’t really care about what I wear.”

Lucifer couldn’t imagine how someone like Isobel could have such low standards when it came to clothing. He even tried to say as much before a soft buzzing sound had him fishing his phone from his breast pocket and smiling at the received text message.

“Your tailoring idea may be for the best.” 

“Is that Chloe?”

Her question caught the devil off guard. “You know about the detective?”

“ _Of course_ I know about the detective.” Isobel said with a hint of confusion on her face. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I didn’t think she mattered. Not to you.”

“How could she not matter to me? You love her.” She practically hummed the words like a hymn; thick and sweet and surprisingly genuine. Lucifer, in return, attempted to stutter out a protest to the statement. A garbled explanation of how what he felt didn’t matter, how she was all part of his father's plan, why it would never work, and so on. Isobel, taking note that Lucifer never actually denied feeling such a way, quieted him with a shake of her head. “All of that aside, you shouldn’t keep her waiting if there is a killer on the loose. Just take me back to Lux and I’ll do my shopping online.”

“Nonsense. I want you to come with me.”

“Lucifer.”

“You simply _must_ meet the detective. The two of you are always telling me how poorly behaved I am. You’ll get on like a dream.”

“I haven’t said anything about your behavior in quite some time, chickadee.” She reminded him as they headed out of the shop. “Besides, you know how I feel. Your life. Your rules. So long as you are living by _your rules_ , I don’t give a damn what you do.”

“Is that so?”

“Fine, fine.” Isobel conceded with a roll of her eyes and a sly smirk while climbing into the convertible. “I care about what you do _sometimes_.”

“You’ll come along, then?”

“Look, I’m sure Chloe and I will get along great, but it’s not my place to be loitering around the police. I respect what they do, and I’m sure Detective Decker doesn’t need any more distractions.”

“Please, Izzy? Just let me introduce you.”

Isobel, predictably, agreed to go with him. Lucifer found that she would usually give in to his requests. Especially when he asked politely. So, after quickly stopping at Lux for her to change into some more presentable clothes, they were headed to the precinct. It looked less like a dingy police station than Isobel had imagined it to be, and she was pleasantly surprised. She might have even called it beautiful, regardless of how useless she thought the glass walls were.

“Finally. I was going to head out without you.” Chloe’s agitation melted into curiosity when she realized that the woman wearing the casual pantsuit, who had come down the stairs behind Lucifer, had actually come in _with_ Lucifer. “Who’s this?”

“This is Isobel. She’s an old friend of mine.” The devil said cheerily and slipped his right hand into his pocket while passing the left between the two women in an introductory motion. “Isobel, this is Detective Chloe Decker.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Chloe said with a friendly smile and shook Isobel’s hand, if not a bit hurriedly. “Would you give us one moment please?” She didn’t wait for an answer before grabbing Lucifer’s arm and dragging him a few steps away from the woman. “You can’t just bring your friends around when we have a case, Lucifer.” 

“I completely agree, detective.” Isobel chimed in, and Chloe realized that maybe she hadn't put quite enough space between them to secretly reprimand her partner. “Is there somewhere the three of us can talk? Privately?” Her, assumed, disregard toward a homicide investigation drew a scoff from the officer.

“Right now?”

“It’s not as if the crime scene will be going anywhere, Detective.” Lucifer said after Chloe threw him an incredulous look.

“Fine, alright. The sooner it’s over with, the sooner we can go.” She grumbled and led them into the forensics lab. With Ella and Dan already at the crime scene, there wouldn’t be anyone to interrupt them. “But I swear, Lucifer, if this is has anything to do with something illegal-” 

“I assure you, it doesn’t.” The detective was cut off as politely as Isobel could manage. She was well aware that Lucifer was far from law abiding, but she had a sore spot about people accusing him of wrongdoing. Especially when those accusations were unfounded. “I’m Lucifer’s behavioral therapist. Dr. Nova.”

Chloe looked at Isobel then Lucifer, and back again. “I thought Linda was his therapist.”

“She is, but she’s a very busy woman. I’ll be observing Lucifer more on a day to day basis, and working with Dr. Martin. This way, Mr. Morningstar will be getting the most out of his time with her. I just needed to speak with you, since I may be here at the precinct or accompanying you two during an investigation from time to time.”

“Oh, okay. Wow.” Chloe found herself a bit embarrassed about suggesting that Isobel was a criminal cohort of some kind. “I’d just have to clear it with the Lieutenant before you rode along on any cases. But good for you, Lucifer. That’s… That’s a big step.” 

Isobel couldn’t help but notice how the devil seemed to stand just a bit taller after Chloe’s praise. “Don’t you worry about it, detective. There’s a murder to solve. The two of you go catch your killer and I’ll talk the Lieutenant.”

“So, how did it go with Pierce?” Lucifer asked the moment the elevator doors opened, and Isobel leaned back to hang her head off the arm of the couch and watch him.

“Fine, I guess. He’s kind of bleh, but doesn’t give a shit so long as I don’t get in the way of investigations.”

“He fell for your whole _behavioral therapist_ schtick, I take it?”

“Hook, line, and sinker.” Her voice strained when she stretched her arms over her head and sat up. “And, in light of of our doctor-patient privilege, if anyone asks, I am observing you and Chloe to study the efficiency of partnerships between officers and civilians.”

Lucifer couldn’t help but grin as he poured two glasses of scotch. “Well done.” When he joined Isobel on the couch she took the drink he offered with disinterest. “I had no idea you were such a skilled liar.”

“Liar?” She wrinkled her nose at the word. “It’s not a total fib. I hang around you, keep an eye on you, and tell you when you’re doing something stupid. So, yeah, I’m a behavioral therapist without the eight million years of college. Besides...” She paused to sip the amber liquid, only to make a displeased face at the flavor and pour the rest into Lucifer’s glass. “I can’t be a liar. You hate liars.”

“Indeed I do.” The affirmation rolled off Lucifer’s tongue slowly and meaningfully while he brought the, now doubly full, tumbler to his lips for a drink. “Are you going to change before we go downstairs? I adore the business casual look, but that outfit doesn’t show nearly enough skin.”

“What makes you think I even _want_ to go down to Lux tonight?”

“If you don’t, then I’ll just have to bring the party up here to you.”

Isobel melted into the cushions at the threat. “Ugh. No parties up here until I get that apartment you promised me.”

“My life. My club. My penthouse. My rules.” Lucifer mused before finishing off his scotch, clearly finding joy in using her own words against her. As he stood, the red sunbeams that dashed in from the balcony caught on his grey dress shirt and Isobel couldn’t help but admire him for a moment. The contrasting colors, brought together in such a way, made him look even more handsome. It was such an alluring sight that she rose from the sofa to join him. Just so she could place her hands on his chest and watch the rubied light pour over her own skin.

“You’ve got quite the mouth on you, cardinal.” She purred with pale blue irises dragging upwards, and by the time her eyes finally settled on the devils face, his arms were around her waist. Looking up at him, Isobel wondered if Lucifer had always been so tall. “You shouldn’t push your luck.”

“Or what?” He scoffed. “You’ll punish me?” Lucifer hadn’t finished the taunt before the woman’s right hand was off of his torso and gripping his jaw. The mild look of surprise on his face was only met with Isobel’s smirk and click of her tongue.

“You’d enjoy that too much.” The hold on his mandible tightened slowly as she spoke and it made her nails dig into the skin of his chin and cheek. Leaving little crescent indents in their wake. Most people would consider it unpleasant, but the hedonistic gleam in Lucifer’s eyes proved her point. “I guess I’ll go change.” His mouth parted when her grip loosened and Isobel took the opportunity to pull an exhale from him by dragging her thumb over his lower lip. “ _And_ I’ll party with you.” 

In a moment of silent synchronization, she rocked up onto the balls of her feet while he ducked down. Each one offering to shorten the already small distance between them. When the devil could feel Isobel’s breath against his lips, she pressed her palms to his shoulders and sent him stepping back and bumping against the piano. By the time Lucifer had steadied himself, she was already heading toward the bedroom to change. “But I expect a rush order on that room of mine!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Critiques are very welcome! If you notice any errors or anything that could be improved, PLEASE tell me <3
> 
> Also, shout-out to [FluffyGlitterPantsDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyGlitterPantsDragon/pseuds/FluffyGlitterPantsDragon) for inspiring me to make a screwdriver a "breakfast food." The opportunity was just too great to pass up. You can check out the specific fic I'm referring to [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13589796/chapters/31194321)


	3. More Precious Than Jewels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer is happy!

Lucifer truly was the shining jewel of Lux, whether or not he believed it, and it showed in how he interacted with his patrons. Drinking with them, dancing with them, and even playing wingman from time to time. All while loving every second of it. Isobel, too, enjoyed the crowd and the people in it. The fact that she barely left Lucifer’s side, drew an attention to her which she found exhilarating. She wasn’t a stranger to scrutiny, but the glances of Lux’s customers were much more quizzical than critical, and it was a welcomed change. Yet, what she delighted in the most was watching the devil enjoy himself. Watching him enjoy life. Enjoy freedom. Enjoy companionship; even if said companionship was messily snogging him on the couch while she had gone to the bar to fetch herself a drink.

Isobel couldn’t deny that watching some random woman haplessly run her hands through Lucifer’s gelled curls tugged at something within her. Something unpleasant. For a moment she thought it to be anger, but the notion was quickly cast aside. If she held some sort of claim over him, then she _would_ have been angry. Perhaps even vengeful. Except she didn’t own the devil. Or at least, not this side of him. 

No, she wasn’t angry, or vengeful or. The emotion that kept her eyes glued to the scene halfway across the club was much less malicious. It was simply good old fashioned disapproval. A feeling she thought she’d recognize more quickly by this point in her life. After all, in her line of work she was often enforcing practices that she didn’t agree with. She didn’t make the rules; only made sure others followed them. The oddity of it was that she never before felt compelled to condemn Lucifer’s self-indulgent lifestyle. She had always wanted the best for him.

Her objection wasn’t even toward his choice of impromptu make out partner. The stranger was tall and blonde and beautiful. Definitely a catch. Rather, it was how unabashedly _hands-on_ the pair was that brought a tightness to her throat. She had always prided herself on her discretion, especially in her relationship with everyone’s favorite club owner. Their bond, regardless of its strength, was complicated, and Isobel was extremely aware of the delicate line she walked. A boundary which she doubted Lucifer even realized was there.

She was a lover who’s means of affection remained, in her mind, inappropriate for such a setting. By extension, she found herself having a distaste toward any general public displays of passion. Something which she kept to herself. After all, her issues with Lucifer’s behavior were just that. _Her_ issues. No one else seemed to care, and in reality he had done nothing wrong.

Lux was beautiful enough to draw her attention from the scene, anyhow. The club was genuinely gorgeous. It was extravagant but not gaudy. A mix of modernization and nostalgia; much like its proprietor. When she had walked inside for the first time, the night before, Isobel never doubted that she was in the right place. The lights. The bar. The piano. _The fun_. It screamed ‘Lucifer.’ Even the name he chose fit his persona. Lux was a sanctuary in ways she could not have anticipated.

Still, after Lucifer’s new friend excused herself to the ladies room, Isobel finally decided to rejoin him; bringing over the drink she ordered but had not yet tasted. Her free hand had fallen softly against the devil’s cheek so that she could drag her palm over his, now, signature and ever-present five o’clock shadow. The roughness of it pricked her skin. 

“I’m not sure I’m a fan of the scruff.” 

When her fingers began to draw away from Lucifer’s face, he stood to follow them with a small chuckle. He always enjoyed her playfulness and decided to tease right back by snatching the mixed drink away from her and savoring it himself.

“All of the other ladies seem to like it.” His cocky grin was obstructed by the tall glass for a moment when he managed to take another gulp of Isobel’s mojito before she reclaimed it. “And the gents.”

“Maybe it’ll grow on me.” It was her turn to enjoy the beverage and Lucifer took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her waist. His hands fit so perfectly against her hips that it felt like a sin not to hold her. Sadly, before his limb could settle against the curve of her torso, Isobel caught his wrist and untangled herself from him. 

She brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed it; as if he was a medieval princess and she were the knight. The action left a dark red lipstick print on the back of his hand which she admired for a second until adding an identical mark on his right cheek.

“You musn’t keep your people waiting, lightbringer.” She whispered, prior to heading toward the elevator.

***

Isobel didn’t need to look up when the elevator landed. There was only one pair of footsteps getting off of it and she had memorized their sound long ago. 

“Short night? It’s only 1 am, and we never had that party you threatened me with.”

Lucifer, shockingly, chose to grab a water bottle from behind the bar before plopping down next to her. “Yes, well, the fun tends to end a bit early on Sundays, even if it is L.A. As unfortunate as it is, many of my guests have responsibilities the rest of the week...” He paused to twist the cap off the spring water and downed nearly half of it. “And I promised the detective that I’d meet her at the station tomorrow morning.”

“Lucifer Morningstar.” Isobel announced in a deepened dramatic tone fit for radio. “Sleuth extraordinaire by day. World class entertainer at night.” She couldn’t help but laugh at her own voice as she closed the book, and Lucifer made a sound of agreement with the water bottle pressed to his lips again.

“What have you been up to for the past two hours?” 

The woman lifted the large, green, old, and plain looking, book from beside her and placed it in his lap. “Poe.”

He regarded the book with a hum and wrapped an arm around her shoulder when she leaned into him. “It’s amazing how one troubled man could create such amazing work.” His thought was interrupted when he felt a familiar softness beneath his fingers; draped over Isobel’s arm. “Are you wearing my dressing gown?”

“I don’t have pyjamas.”

“You don’t _need_ them.” A surprised squeak escaped Isobel when Lucifer swiftly twisted around to grab her waist and haul her into his lap. She had always hated being manhandled and the devil knew it. He also knew himself to be the exception; as he was with many things in her universe. 

Still, it was a gamble. More than once he had made the innocent mistake of lifting her up when he thought she’d welcome it. Simply for her to lash out until she was put down. There was even an isolated instance in which he had gripped both of her arms and somewhat jostled her when his emotions got the better of him. 

That particular moment was haunting. He hadn’t _truly_ hurt Isobel, he never would, but she had suffered enough animosity from others to last countless lifetimes and Lucifer was the last person she expected it from. It was a five minute window in their history that she never spoke about, not even in the moment it happened. The look in her eyes at the time had been enough to stop him. Though she had meant to keep it to herself, Lucifer had seen the panic in her dilated pupils. The fear that he actually was the villain so many made him out to be.

This time, however his bravery was rewarded when Isobel swiveled her left leg around to straddle him. “I admire your boldness, raven, but I hope you know you’re not talking to one of those girls downstairs.” Her decision to unbutton his shirt only brought a victorious smile to the fallen angel’s face.

“No, I’m talking to someone much better.”

A thoughtful purr radiated from crimson lips at his matter-of-fact answer. With each passing moment another section of the Brioni shirt was undone and when it fell fully open the woman ran her fingers along the seams. When near-white irises met his almost-black ones, everything felt _right_. 

Being lost in Isobel’s diamond eyes granted the devil a sense of normalcy and belonging he didn’t realize he was missing until now. The warmth it created was one that the detective had yet to provide. Despite how devoted Lucifer was to her. How he had killed for her. How he had died for her. 

Trying to prove to Chloe that he was _actually Satan_ had become exhausting, as was the way she seemed to constantly have a problem with his lifestyle. A lifestyle that Isobel embraced whether or not it was one she’d choose for herself. Granted, she’d council him from time to time when she thought he was doing something legitimately self destructive; otherwise she was happy to live Lucifer’s life with him. In days past, he had felt most at peace with her by his side. With Isobel at Lux, the club felt more like home than ever before and the pleasantness in his bones didn’t fade when their gaze ended.

It was broken by Isobel’s eyes creeping upward and a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She had nearly forgotten about Lucifer’s earlier companion until she caught sight of his hair. The woman had left the usual smoothed style in shambles. And if the devil had made an attempt to fix it, then it was done poorly. Admittedly, Isobel preferred his hair lose, or even messy as it was, rather than slick and sleek. Though the more she looked at it, the more wild it seemed to be. Some sections stuck out at odd angles while others hugged his scalp.

“You should shower before it stays like this permanently.” She half joked while poking one of the mangled curls. 

“You could join me.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Lucifer watched the way his robe moved on her body as she climbed off his lap. “I already showered, and even with a hairdryer it takes forever to dry this thing.”

He looked on with an amused smile when Isobel fluffed her hair. She did have a lot of it, and it was long. The, normally straight, strands were kinked and curved from being laid upon while still wet. Victims of her impatience earlier in the night when she couldn't wait to get back to her favorite author.

“Fair enough. Besides, the more showers you take, the sooner I’ll have to call a plumber. You shed so much that the pipes will be ruined in a month.” Lucifer’s humor was met by Isobel grabbing a pillow off the couch and throwing it at him.

“Just go take a shower, Medusa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Practice makes perfect and chapter four is gearing up to be LONG. So if I end up splitting it into separate chapters, I'll just double-post next week.
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear any and all feedback you guys have! :)


	4. Seek And Ye Shall Find

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isobel tries to find answers while Lucifer battles some inner demons (no pun intended).

In all regards, Isobel did a mediocre job at keeping tabs on the devil. Pressing matters had gotten in the way of her surveillance of him, and she learned to deal with it; realizing that she couldn’t keep constant watch over what he did or where he was. Not that it stopped her from putting out feelers once in a while.

What scarce information she managed to collect about his new life, proved to be sufficient. Lucifer had been doing well on his own. Without her. It stung, knowing that he didn’t need her anymore, but she doubted he ever _actually_ needed her in the first place. He always managed alright, and knowing that he was still alive had been enough to soothe most of her worries. 

Still, no amount of intel could erase just how much she _missed_ him. Isobel found someone to cover her responsibilities as soon as things began to simmer down, and she had everything in place for a brief absence. She’d be gone two days at most. Maybe three. All she had to do was go to L.A., visit Lucifer, and go home. It was an easy enough plan. One that would have worked had he been unhappy to see her, or asked where she’d been and why it took so long for her to show up. But he wasn’t and he didn’t, and the plan crumbled the instant he spotted her at Lux.

The amount of time they spent around each other made it so he would recognize her if she was wearing a full Michelin Man bodysuit, and Isobel had done nothing to hide who she was. He, of course, looked the same as he always did. Unnecessarily handsome. A few years of distance did little to dampen their palpable chemistry, and they picked up right where they left off. Without any real catching up or ‘how are you’s.

Having Lucifer smile at her and joke with her was nearly a dream. Surreal and euphoric. Having him moan and writhe under her was what convinced Isobel that she couldn’t be away from him again. Not like before. She would not tolerate another embargo on their closeness. Situational or otherwise.

She’d accept that pieces of his life would remain a mystery and wouldn’t ask how he spent the last handful of years. If she did, Lucifer would surely omit any _unsavory_ details so as to spare her any worry or heartache. It was a small fee for being able to reintegrate into his life so seamlessly. A price she was willing to pay before meeting the detective.

She knew Chloe and Lucifer were close. His love for Detective Decker hadn’t even been a surprise. Isobel knew better than most that the devil had a big heart. He cared so much about everyone and everything; he got attached so _easily_. But she had underestimated just _how attached_ her friend was to the civil servant. Something she realized when she got to see them interact first-hand.

One ‘good job’ from the detective and Lucifer was beaming like the damned sun. Which wouldn’t bother Isobel if Chloe hadn't been berating him less than five minutes prior. Love was shown through benevolent correction, not harsh accusal. There was no doubt that Decker made Lucifer happy. Amongst other things. Yet Isobel couldn’t help but wonder about the relationship the two shared. Or what other _messes_ Lucifer may have gotten himself into. 

Which made it all the more convenient that her masquerade gave her access to the precinct and its officers. Spending some time at the station wouldn’t only be a less boring option than staying alone in the penthouse all day, it might be insightful. If it didn’t shed any light on the Chloe-Lucifer situation, maybe it could fill in other blanks.

Pierce, however, was not too keen on Lucifer’s glorified babysitter inviting herself into his office for the second time. He had seen Isobel heading his way, and hoped she’d keep walking past. A wish proven futile, because when he dared to look up to see if she was gone, the woman was stepping through the door and closing it. Completely indifferent toward his stack of paperwork, and agitation.

“Can I help you, Dr. Nova?”

“What can you tell me about Lucifer?”

“Excuse me?”

“Have you noticed any spontaneous changes in his conduct when dealing with cases? Any behaviors that could be detrimental to himself or to others? You _are_ his superior, after all.”

“And _you_ are his behavioral therapist. Shouldn’t you ask _him_ how he acts? Or watch him, or something?”

Isobel forced herself not to roll her eyes. “In a perfect world, yeah. But people tend to act differently when they know they’re under observation. It makes it difficult to get an ‘honest read’ of their behavior. Besides, half of the reason behavioral problems are _problems_ is because we, as a society, have deemed those behaviors to be inappropriate.” She smoothed the back of her skirt and sat down on the small couch across from his desk. “With that in mind, Lieutenant, have you noticed anything about Mr. Morningstar that you’d consider to be strange?”

“All of Lucifer is strange.” Pierce scoffed. “From the three piece suits, to the whole _devil_ thing. As for inappropriate, I’d say bringing a pocket flask to work at a police station counts.” He stood from his chair and rounded the desk to lean against it. “From what I understand he’s always been this way, but I’m pretty new to the department, so I couldn’t tell you if he’s actually changed during his time with Decker.”

“Who _can_ tell me?”

“Espinoza works with him a lot.” He mused and nodded through the glass to the dark haired detective on the phone. “I’m sure he’s got loads to say.” They both watched Dan finish his phone call before the Lieutenant opened the office door. “Espinoza!” Pierce was more than happy to offer the other male to Isobel in his stead. He’d rather leave his own office than have to be questioned about the devil, and was nearly stepping out by the time Dan walked over.

“What’s up?”

“Ms. Nova would like to talk to you.” His expression was as monotone as his voice and it did nothing to quell Dan’s curiosity. They didn't usually get strangers at the precinct, especially in Pierce’s office. “Take as much time as you need.” With that, the Lieutenant shut the door behind him and headed off. His paperwork would have to wait, but at least the woman was Detective Espinoza’s problem now.

Isobel, however, was far from blank-faced and smiled charmingly. “I hear you’re the one to talk to about Mr. Morningstar.”

“I am?”

“That’s what Lieutenant Pierce tells me.” She said and patted the empty space on the sofa. Dan acknowledged the silent invitation by sitting beside her. 

“What do you want to know?”

“We could start with what it’s like to work with him. What his partnership with Detective Decker is like. How well they work together.”

“Hang on a sec. Are you from Internal Affairs?”

The question had Isobel chuckling. “Christ, no. I’m just trying to figure out how valuable civilian-officer partnerships are to the task force. Detective Decker’s close rate has always been impressive, but it’s skyrocketed since she took on Mr. Morningstar as a consultant. Their success could open the door to similar partnerships in other departments.” The more she approved of their work, the more relaxed Dan became. “I’m not here to find fault with their work, Detective Espinoza. I just need to know if they are _really_ as good as they seem to be.”

“Well, Chloe definitely gives her all. With Lucifer… I don’t know.”

“Is Mr. Morningstar _not_ committed to solving cases?”

“To be honest, I have no idea.” He nearly laughed while rubbing the top of his thighs restlessly. “Sometimes it feels like he’s sabotaging things. Not really on purpose; like, misleading an investigation or anything. But he does a lot things without thinking them through.”

“What kind of things?”

“We were trying trying to find someone who killed a surfer not too long ago, and after following some leads we ended up at a tournament. So he signed Chloe up to compete. Which was fine, except he made her stage name _The Detective_ and it blew her cover. Or how he’s just up and disappeared once or twice without telling anybody. Like he doesn't have responsibilities or anything.” 

Dan hadn’t noticed the smirk on her face, and continued not to notice when it faded away. Entertainment visibly disintegrating into uneasiness. “What do you mean _disappeared_?”

***

“I ordered some of those clothes today.” Just seventy two hours into their reunion and Isobel had already stopped looking up to see who would come out of the elevator. She had even stopped gauging the footsteps. No one other than Lucifer had come off the lift since she arrived, and she had no reason to believe it would be anyone else. “That romper thing you suggested was cool, but those red-soled shoes were a no. I won’t spend _that_ kind of money on something that looks so uncomfortable. Even if it is your money.” When there was only silence, she finally peeked over her book to see a semi-disgruntled Lucifer peering down at the bar top absentmindedly. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, yes.” He all but snapped while sinking into a bar stool. “That _thing_ is not a romper, by the way, it’s a jumpsuit. And Louboutin’s are very comfortable.” He had hardly finished speaking before she was off the couch and standing at his side.

“Hey, is everything okay?” She poured him a drink before he could reach for the bottle, and he drank it immediately, clacking the glass against the bar when it was empty. “Are you working on a rough case?”

“The case is fine. Solved, even.” He poured himself a second, fuller glass and caught the concern in Isobel’s eyes. For the first time in their history he didn’t know what to say to her. Admitting to her that he had made a deal he was unable to fulfill, was admitting it to the universe. It would become truth. Fact. An actuality he wasn’t sure he could face. He was Satan, whether she believed in the monicker or not; but how devilish was he, really, if he couldn’t even kill a _human_? Of course, he couldn’t lie to her, so he chose a vague truth instead. “I’m just dealing with a small business problem. Nothing I can’t figure out.”

“Well don’t get yourself riled up over it.” That was easier said than done, she knew, and kissed his cheek reassuringly. “It’s already seven, I’m going to head down in a few minutes if you want to come along.” She kissed him again, on the top of the head this time, and he gave a small sound of understanding.

***

Experiencing Lux without Lucifer gave Isobel a new appreciation for the club. Without him to focus on, she began watching people. It was fascinating to see how everyone could be wild and laid back all at once. The club was much more than a cesspool of sin and depravity. No matter what the devil wanted people to believe. Still, after an hour of club-goer-safari, one patron in particular caught her eye. She may not have been in L.A. for long, but she’d know those broody biceps anywhere.

“I never expected to see you here, Lieutenant.” Pierce clenched his jaw when she sidled up to him. “I didn’t think Lux was your scene.”

“Yeah, well, I didn't think you’d be here either, Doctor.” _Doctor_. Oh, how she was beginning to hate the charade she chose. “I’m here to see Lucifer.”

“Lucifer? I haven’t seen him down here all night.” Her input was, evidently, not needed, because the man had begun to head toward the elevator before she finished her sentence. “Well, alright then. I guess I’ll just go fuck myself.” She muttered under her breath while opting to finish the drink he left behind.

The next she saw him was an hour later, coming off the elevator with Lucifer. The Brit had that signature diabolical grin plastered across his face while fiddling with his shirt sleeves. Fixing the bunched fabric around his forearms like he had rolled them up sloppily.

The Lieutenant, however, looked less jovial, and Isobel swore she could see bruising around his neck. For a moment, she entertained the thought of Lucifer choking the life out of the officer, simply because he could. After all, Marcus Pierce managed to be a pretentious prick in his own subtle way. Though it was unlikely. Lucifer could be vengeful at times, but he wouldn’t go around wailing on someone who didn’t _truly_ deserve it. It was much more possible he chose to engage in some risqué behavior with a man who was essentially his boss. Having no aversion to the idea, Isobel let her mind wander in that direction, if not for a little while.

In contrast, Lucifer’s mind was definitely _not_ wandering as his gaze fixated on her. Sitting in his usual spot, adorned with a dress that looked like a lace sunset, Isobel was the only thing he could see. The way the D.J.’s colored lights caught in her inky hair made her all the more beautiful. Like a nebula had drifted into Lux. His body refused to move toward her and sully her perfection. The devil was so lost in his admiration that he didn't realize Isobel was looking at him until she wasn’t anymore. 

What had stolen her attention was a young man, no older than twenty five, with a drink in his hand. The glass was large, with sugar on the rim; a cosmopolitan. She loved cosmos. Fruity ones, Lucifer remembered. _Remembered?_ Had he forgotten? No. Of course not. He made them a staple at Lux long ago, to pay homage to their time together. To pay homage to her, even if she hadn’t been around in years. Even if he didn’t like them.

A random millenial buying her a drink was harmless. Only an idiot wouldn’t want to buy a woman like _that_ a drink. Isobel tasting it was harmless. As was the look of approval she gave and the triumphant smile on the stranger’s face. She had always been picky about her alcohol. It had taken the devil _forever_ to figure out what she actually liked.

The words she spoke were _not_ harmless. Lucifer couldn’t hear them over the music, but he didn’t need to. He could see how her lips moved. The familiar shapes they made were deeply etched into his very being, and the phrase bounced around inside his skull. Echoing loudly against the quiet of his subconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually update this on Wednesdays, but since this chapter ended up being about 5K words. I decided to split it into two. So the next half of this will be in Chapter 5. Which I'll post Thursday :) Stay tuned!


	5. Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood

It didn’t matter that the way Isobel’s mouth tugged up at the left proved she was only teasing her companion. The scene before Lucifer felt heavy and sluggish. Like Amenadiel had regained control of his chronokinesis and was forcing him to memorize each detail of the woman’s apostasy.

Of course, it hadn’t been enough for her to simply praise the guy. No. The young man _had_ to sit on the floor. Taking position at her feet with his legs crossed; haplessly browsing his phone while her fingers faintly danced through his hair.

Isobel laughed when her new friend tilted the screen her way — it was always funny to see a cat get their head stuck in something — but was surprised to see Lucifer still by the elevator when she looked up. The expression on his face was puzzling, and she wondered why he hadn’t joined her or anyone else. Certainly there were better things to do than lurk in the corner.

She was no stranger to gauging jealousy. From politics to petty disputes, she’d seen the green-eyed monster rear its head time and time again. Witnessed all the ways it spoke with a malicious tongue and judged with bitter gazes. Though, she rarely experienced such a beast with Lucifer. When they were together, the times it _mattered_ , it was always just the two of them. Uninterrupted and undistracted. 

Sure, she had observed his covetousness over, what she’d call, minor things. But those instances had been a _long_ time ago and _very_ scarce. So much so, that she failed to recognize the knit of his brows as envy. Doubly blind to the fact that such an emotion was because of her.

As such, when Lucifer continued with his cryptic grimace and then sulked his way back onto the elevator, Isobel blamed the sour mood on his mysterious _business problem_. At least she did for forty five minutes or so. The longer he stayed upstairs again, the more concerned she became, and when her worry came to a head she finally went to the penthouse to check on him. Unprepared to be met with the chords of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds.”

“Listening to sad songs when you’re sad only makes you more sad.” She pointed out in a soft tone and casually walked over to him, but Lucifer continued to play. He was an amazing pianist and watching his fingers waltz along ivory keys had always bewitched her. This time was no different. She joined him on the bench and moved to lean against him. “Did you and Chloe fight?” In a burst, Lucifer had stopped playing, scoffed, stood up, and brought his flask to his lips. Leaving Isobel to catch herself before toppling over. 

“There’s nothing wrong between the detective, and I.”

“Well you’ve been moody all night. No way you are _this_ worked up over a hiccup in a deal."

He drowned his momentary panic with the remaining booze in his flask before heading to the bar, with her quick at his heels. “I never said anything about a deal.”

“I’m not a moron. So don’t treat me like one.” Except she was a moron, as far as Lucifer could tell. How didn't she see that this was _her_ fault? “If this is about Decker, you can tell me. I’m here for you, I won’t-”

“I already bloody told you. This isn’t about Chloe!” The shout was overshadowed by how hard he brought his palms down on the bar. The countertop had cracked and he could practically feel the way Isobel’s eyes bounced between his body and the damage it dealt. With a heavy sigh he walked around to the back of the bar and grabbed a bottle of tequila; stunned to see her gingerly drag her palm across the newly made cracks. “You know who I miss?”

“No fucking clue.”

“Mazikeen.”

She threw her hands in the air with an exasperated huff before letting them fall to her sides again. “Well where did she go?” Isobel and the demon had some intrinsic differences that they had been unable to reconcile, and while she didn’t necessarily _hate_ Maze, she definitely didn't miss having her around.

“ _She_ lives with the detective now. Roommates.” His tone was clearly mocking the implied chumminess of such a living arrangement. As was the odd full-body sway and jazz hands that accompanied the word ‘roommates’. “She wanted to find herself. Be on her own.” He poured a double of tequila and threw it back. “At least I _knew_ she’d be interested in humans. To some degree.” 

“Is that what this is about, Lucifer? _Humans_?” The pieces had finally fallen into place for Isobel and she was livid. It was bad enough he had danced around the subject, but blaming his jealousy on the entirety of mankind was excessive. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? Because you’re a shining face of humanity, in case you haven’t noticed!”

“Just because I _look_ mortal doesn’t mean-”

“You don’t have any right to judge my behavior with that guy downstairs. You obviously embraced the locals, and so can I. If you were down there, you probably would have found him first, _Mr. Seduction_.”

“First. Second. Twelfth. Hundredth. I don’t care about who would have found him or when. I care that _you_ found him at all!” 

The woman had been easing her way around the counter, and nearer to him, as the loud conversation continued; and the new expression he wore was one she’d seen on him over and over. He had the manic eyes of a man wound too tight. “You are truly that upset because some man, some _boy_ , sat on the floor while I played with his hair?” Her voice had grown softer, gentler. When she carefully reached out to cup his face in her hands, he allowed it, but didn’t relax.

“He didn’t just sit at your feet.” Lucifer spat as cruel as he could. The anger was beginning to meld into a sense of loss. “You called him… You said he was…”

“I said he was _good_.” Isobel finished when he couldn’t, and the devil jerked away from her touch. Her own admission of it made her fingers an irritant to his skin. “Because he was, Lucifer.” She seized his face again in strong and placid palms. “As are you.”

The laugh he let out was small, but full of condemnation. A deflection against her praise. “I was right there. You knew I could see you.”

“I did.” 

A second confession which earned an angry exhale followed by him swatting her hands away and drinking straight from the bottle. “What did you need from him anyway?!” The devil barked. “If you needed… _Wanted_ … I was right there!” He was getting angry again, and more pieces were added to Isobel’s mental puzzle. Lucifer’s consistent bad quality was showing itself. 

Satan may not lie. Hey may not mislead people. But he absolutely had a habit of hiding from blame. It was something she didn’t tolerate before, and she wasn’t going to start now.

“Yes. You were _right there_. But you didn’t approach me. Didn’t even try to get my attention, really. You just stood there. Brooding in front of the elevator.”

“How does that-”

“What should I have done, Lucifer? Should I have been rude to that kind young man? Should I have ignored him? Should I have put _you_ at my feet instead? In front of all those people. Your customers. Your fans.” He fell silent. There was an image he had to maintain. Sitting on the floor beside Isobel while she sat in _his_ spot would not uphold that image. “Yes. I told the kid he was good, because he was. Whether you like it or not.” Her left hand settled on his cheek again, and he leaned into the touch when her thumb began to stroke his skin. “He was simply deserving of praise. The guy was hardly a replacement.”

Lucifer’s eyes turned dark again. “I never said he was a replacement.”

“Stop it, sparrow. Enough is enough. Jealousy doesn’t look on you, and I’m here with _you_ now.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He escaped her hand to take another sip from the long-necked bottle, but the alcohol nearly spilled when Isobel snatched it away.

“No more.”

“Excuse me. It’s _my_ booze.”

“Too fucking bad. You wanted my attention, and here it is. No more liquor tonight. Go get changed into something comfortable."

He grumbled and fixed the rolls of his sleeves. “This is comfortable.”

“I swear on your _life_ , little jay, that I _will_ drag you downstairs and put your knees if you don’t _watch your mouth_.” The threat was all it took to send Lucifer striding toward the bedroom to change. “And get that gunk out of your hair.”

***

That _gunk_ had taken longer to remove than expected. Especially since Lucifer tried to get it out without a shower. The first time. After getting himself and the bathroom soaked, he opted just to bathe completely. When he finally went back to the living room, Isobel was occupied by a book, yet again, and it was the soft padding of his bare feet on the hard flooring that drew her away from it.

“You look cute.” The only woman, _person_ , in the universe that had enough ‘doesn’t-give-a-shit’ attitude to call the devil genuinely cute, decided the word fit him best when he was in nothing but gray sweatpants. “Sit down. Stay awhile.” He started toward the end of the couch, but Isobel stretched out her legs and idly waved at the empty floor space beside her. When Lucifer didn’t acquiesce, she found herself wondering if they had been apart too long. If his pride had snuffed out his inclination to please. “Starling.” The nickname got no response and she tried not to let the tenseness in her mind show on her body. “Lucifer?”

“Hmm, yes?” He snapped out of his space-out and she snapped her fingers. This time pointing at the floor directly.

“Sit.” Lucifer listened flawlessly on the repetition. Sinking down by the arm of the couch with his legs criss-crossed. He stayed quiet, though, and looked up at her open brown eyes. The mania was gone and it brought a hum from the woman while she kissed his forehead. “That’s a good lad.” The soft praise and a hand in his loose curls had the devil leaning into her touch. A warm sensation filled him again and he reveled in it. It was a blissful moment cut short when Isobel said: “You know we don’t have to keep doing this if you don’t want to.”

“Why would I not want to?” It wasn’t eloquent, or even respectable sounding. Lucifer’s mouth practically vomited the words before he could stop it, and the shock in his voice told Isobel that she might have been wrong in her assumption. But it wasn’t a subject she couldn’t just drop.

“You have Lux now, sweet wren. A successful business, and a successful life. I’m not saying you _weren’t_ successful before, things are just different now.”

“It’s not _that_ different.” He shifted and stuck out his chin in an archaic show of assurance. “I still very much enjoy devious acts between the sheets. And on tables and on floors, and in the shower… Though that one can be a hazard at times.”

Isobel smiled at his rambling. He had remembered his manners, and the playboy air had left him, but he still didn't get the point. He never did do well with leading speech. Which was surprising since most people thought he was constantly talking in metaphor; but he better understood when things were said bluntly. Even if Isobel often associated bluntness with rudeness.

“Lucifer.” She said rather idly and he quieted for a split second before more words leaked from his lips without consent.

“Yes, my Queen?” 

The spoken title left her looking as dumb-struck as he was. It had been a long time since he’d said it and she never expected to hear it from him again. He never imagined he’d say it again, either, and it took them both a moment to recover.

“I’m concerned about your desire and ability to follow instruction.” She finally said gingerly and dropped her hand to rub the scruff on his cheeks. The stubble was growing on her.

“What?”

“It’s been a long time since you had to do what you were told. Are you still up to the task?” Isobel swiveled around and sat properly on the sofa with her feet on the floor and his head in her hands. Gazing down at him. It felt easier to have the young twenty three year old at her feet. Not that it felt _wrong_ with Lucifer in front of her. Just cruel, somehow. Now that he had freed himself. Built a life he enjoyed. “Things have changed since we were together the last time. You’ve accomplished so much, and you have so much to be proud of. I don’t want to ruin-”

“I’ll happily do whatever you ask.” He said before she could continue. The heavy way he swallowed proved it to be something not easily spoken. “But I can’t promise I’ll be any good at it.” Lucifer’s rebellious streak was what put distance between them in the first place, and he offered a half-smile to hide his uneasiness.

“Lark…” Isobel stood and wrenched him up onto his feet and into a hug. “You _are_ good.” The words coiled around him with her arms and he returned the embrace; riding the high. Maybe his life _had_ changed, but he could make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what to say about this chapter other than: I'm sorry.


	6. I Am The Resurrection And The Life

**_~Ding!_**

“You know, I’m supposed to keep going to the precinct to observe you, but after what happened last week I think…” Isobel looked up from her newly purchased laptop and pressed her lips together. “... _You’re_ not Lucifer.” From now on she’d be checking who got off the lift.

“No, I’m not.” Pierce scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest with an inquisitive look. “What happened with him last week?”

“Nothing that you need to worry about, Lieutenant. Can I help you with something?” 

“I need to talk to him.”

“Well I’m the only one here.”

“What?”

“Lucifer left a few hours ago. I assumed he was meeting up with Detective Decker about an investigation.”

“It’s Chloe’s day off.” He pulled his cell out of his back pocket and double check the message with a sigh. “He sent me a text. Told me to meet him here.”

The more he said the more curious Isobel became, and she slid off the barstool with a prying look. “Meet him for what?” It was almost amusing at what his body language gave away. Like how the way his shoulders tensed told her she was onto something.

“We’ve been working on a case, kinda of off the the books.”

“Together? I could have sworn that you two didn’t get along.”

“Yeah, well it’s a long story.”

“Not that long, actually.” A familiar accented voice said as Lucifer appeared from the bedroom, and Isobel was significantly more shocked than Pierce.

“What-How-When did you get home?”

“Hmm? Just about a half hour ago. I snuck past while you were engrossed in the internet.”

“I was not _engrossed_. The elevator didn’t go off until just now.”

“That’s because I took the stairs.”

The Lieutenant looked around the room quickly. “This place has stairs?”

“Of course it has stairs.” He said as if it were obvious. “It wouldn’t be up to code, otherwise.”

“But why did you take the stairs, Lucifer?”

“Because I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Wanted _what_ to be surprise?” The woman’s patience was suffering under his roundabout answer to her question.

“This.” He nearly cooed the word before revealing the chisel he had been keeping behind his back. In one swift moment he reaching behind Pierce and and rammed the device up into the base of the man’s skull. Isobel watched in horror, and the devil in glee, as Pierce’s body fell with a lifeless thud. What shook her even more was how Lucifer casually began to pour himself a drink while the dead officer’s blood pooled onto the floor.

“Lucifer!”

“Yes, my Queen?” Cheeky. She knew he’d never say that around an alive Marcus Pierce.

“What the hell did you do?”

“I severed his brainstem with a woodworking tool. Though it could be for stone sculpting. I’m not quite sure.”

“But _why_?!”

“Just watch and see, Izzy.” His eyes lingered on the dead man. “Unless _this_ time it actually works.” After several pregnant minutes, Lucifer straightened his jacket and lightly kicked Pierce’s foot. “My, my. Perhaps it did. Wouldn't that be bittersweet?” 

“Lucifer, what are you talking about?”

“Come on Lieutenant. If you’re alive, get up already. Your secret’s safe with her.” He mused and ignored her question. It took a little while, but eventually the corpse’s back rose with a gasping breath.

“Just give me a damn minute.” Pierce groaned. “I have to get the feeling back in my limbs.” Without a word, Isobel knelt beside him and pulled the tool from his neck. “ _Fuck me_ , that stings.”

Lucifer couldn’t help but chuckle behind his glass. “Maybe when all your parts are working again.” The joke earned him a glare from the woman as she dropped the bloody blade onto the bar. “Isobel, meet Cain.” 

She didn’t need any further explanation, and the interested gleam in her eye told the devil that he would regret telling her the truth. Isobel quickly bounced back from her shock over the execution, and swatted him on the arm. 

“You couldn’t have said that without killing him?!”

“Where’s the fun in that? Besides, I only tried to kill him.” He motioned to the Lieutenant who was now trying to get on his feet. Wobbling about like a newborn calf. “See? Right as rain.”

“ _Tried_ being the issue. You’re still no closer to finding a solution to my problem, are you?” Pierce panted, out of breathe from the ordeal, and braced himself against the piano. “And who _is_ she?”

“Oh, come on. I didn’t put your cerebrum through a cheese grater. She’s Isobel Nova. You two’ve already met.”

“Your behavioral therapist hangs out at your apartment when she thinks you’re not home?”

Lucifer opened his mouth to answer but Isobel cut in before he could. “You’re Cain, brother of Able, and I’m not _actually_ a doctor. We all have our secrets.”

“So, you’re what, another angel? A demon?”

“Ha! Fuck no. I’m just a friend of Lucifer’s.”

When Pierce finally managed to make it over to the bar, and collapsed into a barstool, he grabbed the open bottle of amber liquid near Lucifer and chugged a decent amount. Then revelled in being able to rest his heavy head against the countertop. 

The three of them sat in relative silence for the better part of a half hour. Aside from the Lieutenant’s occasional grunts and groans while Isobel tended to the hole in the back of his neck. When the bleeding finally stopped she poured herself a shot of the communal brandy and and drank it quickly. Hating the taste.

“Here I was thinking you two were having some sort of fun, with all your sneaking around. It’s kind of disappointing to find out that you’re only trying to kill the unkillable.”

“Yes, well killing him is the point.” Lucifer paused and eyed her cautiously. “What do you mean by _fun_?”

“When you two got off the elevator, the night you…” She danced her hand around in the air. A motion clearly meaning: ‘lost your shit’. “I noticed the bruises on his neck. I hoped it was something deviant. But I guess if that had been the case, you wouldn’t have thrown that tantrum.”

“You threw a tantrum?” Pierce mocked. “What are you, four?”

“I did not, and I am not. My… _Agitation_ was justly caused. Though I suppose some _reciprocative_ breath play would have put me in a better mood.” Pierce nearly spat out his drink and the look Isobel gave was far from forgiving.

“Lucifer!” 

“What? He said he doesn’t enjoy life because he’s already tried everything. But he has yet to try those things with the devil.”

“I’m sorry about him.” 

Pierce chuckled a bit to himself while the woman pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t worry, I’m used to the weird macabre flirting by now.”

“Yeah, well, it’s still not good manners to hit on someone right after you’ve killed them.”

“I’m sure the Lieutenant could teach me my manners.” Lucifer said in a low and risqué tone while getting his face closer to the man’s. “Couldn’t you, Pierce? Teach me _please_ and _thank_ -” His words stopped when Isobel’s palm met the back of his head.

“Stop it, starling.”

Lucifer stared at her a moment with unhappy eyes before muttering something in an archaic language and having more liquor.

“Queen?” They both looked at Pierce quizzically. “ _Sorry, my Queen_. That’s what you said.” He motioned to Lucifer. “In Ancient Greek, or Latin, or something.”

The devil only managed a nervous laugh. “Yes, I forgot you know dead languages.” He continued to drink and Pierce’s small utterance about how he ‘didn’t want to know’ only made things that much more tense. Something Isobel tried to alleviate, at least for Lucifer, by resting her hand on the back of his neck and playing with the wispy hairs along his nape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is some (kinda) comedic relief after their fight last chapter. _And_ Isobel found out that Pierce is Cain, so that's a plus! I won't keep you guys in the dark much longer about how she and Lucifer know each other, I promise.
> 
>   Follow me on Tumblr [@maelizwriting](https://maelizwriting.tumblr.com/) so I can follow you!


	7. As Iron Sharpens Iron, So One Person Sharpens Another

Maze had expected anyone to be knocking on the door. The police. Girlscouts. Traveling evangelists. A delivery guy with the wrong address. _Anyone_ except for the person it actually was.

“What are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too, Mazikeen.”

“No. It’s not.” The demoness said with a sarcastic smile. “Lucifer’s not here, so you can leave.” She tried to close the door but Isobel braced it open with a splayed palm.

“Yeah, I already know where he is.”

“Then what do you want?”

“To talk to you _about_ him.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” She hummed and squeezed her way inside to browse the apartment. Almost intrigued to find the devil’s confidant home alone. “Doesn’t Chloe have a daughter?”

“Yeah, she’s at school. Kids do that during the week.”

“Does Lucifer like her?”

“Decker?”

“Her daughter.”

Maze sneered as her unwelcome guest wandered around the kitchen “What do you think?”

When Isobel finally stopped her casual exploration it was to lean back against the sink. “Look, I’m not here to fight with you, Maze.” She promised. “I just need some information, that’s all.”

“Why would I tell you anything?”

“Because the sooner you do, the sooner I’ll leave.”

There was no arguing with that. “Fine.” The torturer folded her arms over her chest and cocked a brow. “What do you want to know?”

Isobel ended up staying much longer than was planned, but after an hour had gone by, Maze didn’t seem to care about the intrusion. It was easier to put their differences aside when focusing on the one true thing they had in common. Even if one woman could effortlessly kill the other. 

Mazikeen knew a lot more than Dan, which was expected, but most of it were the things Isobel already knew about. Like how the Goddess of Creation had visited Earth, or how Lucifer traded his Pentecostal Coin to save Chloe and Trixie. Other things, such as the deals he made and how they turned out, she didn’t find particularly important. 

All in all, the visit proved mildly enjoyable but unenlightening, and Isobel figured she’d done a better job at keeping an eye the devil than she thought. With that being the case, she found no reason not to embrace some casual spontaneity. If her stay in Los Angeles was going to be indefinite, she’d like to have more friends than just Satan.

***

“I invited Pierce over tonight.”

“It’s a club, you don’t have to invite him. He’ll just show up if he wants to, like everyone else.”

“No, I mean I invited him up here. To the penthouse. For dinner.”

“Dinner?” Lucifer scoffed. “You asked the Lieutenant out on a date?”

“No.” Isobel said slowly and fidgeted. “I told him you found a new way to kill him.”

“What? It’s only been a few days and I _haven’t_ found a new way. Even if I _did_ , I wouldn't try it out so soon. Cleaning up his blood is not how I want to spend my Friday night. ”

“I know that, and you know that. But he doesn’t.”

“What are you playing at, Isobel?” He asked with some semblance of agitation. The devil didn’t lie, and didn’t necessarily want to be caught up in one of hers if it involved Pierce. Cain was crabby enough already.

“Monopoly. Life. Cards Against Humanity. I picked up a bunch of board-gamey games while you were out.” When she was on her way back from Maze’s, really, but he didn’t need to know that she’d gone to see the demon.

“I still don’t understand.”

“I didn’t ask him over for a date. I was hoping the three of us could, I don’t know, hang out, or something.”

“ _Hang out?_ What are you, a highschooler?” 

“I don’t have a lot of friends, Lucifer.” She explained. “If I’m going to stay here, in L.A., with you, then I have to know more people than just you. Even back home... They aren’t friends so much, anymore, they’re-”

“Minions?”

“Not what I was going to say, but sure. Close enough.” The drop in her usual self-assurance made him understand. 

Lucifer could let go and indulge whenever he wanted to. He could surround himself with lovers and friends and random people and simply relax. Isobel was rarely, if ever, allowed that luxury.

Her job was her life, and those under her didn’t care about her altruistic or affectionate impulses the way he did. In fact they often saw such things as a weakness, but listened to her because of her competence. Not only was the woman an impeccable mix of discernment and control, she was _excellent_ at giving orders and seeing that they were followed. Such a breed of militaristic character made her subordinates willfully trusting and allegiant. 

It also meant that very few people in Isobel’s life thought of themselves as her equal. Putting herself out there and actively seeking balanced friendships was a big step. If it was something she felt she needed to do, then Lucifer would support her. Though he didn’t think Pierce was the best person to try it with.

“Very well.” He surrendered with a sigh. “But don’t blame me if he doesn’t stay. The man’s not exactly one for quality time.”

***

“Are you kidding me?”

As predicted, Pierce was not thrilled about being summoned to Lux under some ruse. Also as predicted, it did nothing to sway Isobel’s determination.

“I’m sorry. You wouldn’t have come otherwise.” 

“No shit.” The Lieutenant huffed. “Look, next time you say you have a new plan, _actually_ have one. Alright? I’m going home.”

Isobel crossed her arms with a rough expression. “To do what? Sit alone with a frozen dinner and watch reruns?” She really was out of practice when it came to winning someone over as her equal, and the words came out harsher than she meant them to. The devil, however, found it quite amusing. “Come on. Just stay for a little while. Lucifer will pay for some take out-

“Excuse me. _Rude_.”

“And we can just relax.” She urged, ignoring Lucifer’s interruption and taking on a kinder tone. “Maybe taking your mind off things will give you guys some new ideas. Besides. We’ve got an open bar.” 

Pierce exhaled sharply through his nose while mulling it over in his head. The booze alone was tempting enough, and it could be refreshing to spend an evening with people who understood what he was. _Who_ he was. 

“Just this one time. And only because _he’s_ paying.”

Isobel did not hide her elation well, but she was better company than the Lieutenant would have imagined. Where as, Lucifer was interested in talking about his father and himself, she only wanted to know about Pierce. It still didn’t get him to open up as much as she would have liked, but Marcus appreciated the effort.

She wanted to know how many languages he knew, if he had attended any universities, which interesting people he met over the centuries. The woman was more interested in him and his experiences _throughout_ history rather than his _personal_ history and it was nice to talk about the enjoyable times of his Hell on Earth. Still, the friendly conversation didn’t stop him from noticing how she and Lucifer behaved with one another.

Pierce knew the devil was carefree but he looked utterly serene with Isobel sat beside him. It was strange to see how attentive he was with her. How he would affectionately interlock his fingers with hers if she took his hand. How his eyes admired her tenderly when she spoke. It all seemed more pure than was possible considering how much of a ladies’ man Lucifer was.

On the flip side, the Lieutenant had witnessed how Lux’s patrons tended to act around the entrepreneur. Men and women wouldn’t literally throw themselves at Lucifer, but they would always compete for his attention in some subtle, or unsubtle, way. Isobel did not. 

She didn’t look to him for approval after telling a story, or try to make him the center of attention. He was still involved in the conversation, but no more so than anyone else. There were no opportunities for him to become overbearing; for him to become full of himself. She treated the King of Hell like the gentleman she knew he could be, and it made him happily docile.

“... Then the police came down both flights of stairs, and of course it’s a speakeasy so none of us are supposed to be there, and-” Pierce was cut off by a dinging from Lucifer’s phone and the devil made an apologetic expression while plucking it from off the piano.

“Looks like the bouncer stopped our delivery at the door.” He sighed. “Be back in a jiffy.”

Isobel hummed and began to mix herself another drink as her host boarded the elevator. While Pierce waited until Lucifer had fully left before choosing to ask the prying questions.

“You and Lucifer, huh?”

“What about me and Lucifer?”

“You two seem close.”

A half chuckle escaped her as she added cranberry juice to the cocktail shaker. “So?”

“So, if you’re not his doctor, and you’re not an angel, and you’re not a demon, then what are you? A girlfriend?”

“Lucifer doesn’t have girlfriends. I’m no one special.” She explained while putting the finishing touches into the cocktail and shaking it up. “Just a woman who keeps the devil from destroying himself.”

When she poured the mixed drink into a glass and tasted it, Pierce laughed at the bitter face she made. “So you really _do_ know about that then?”

“Yes, I know about it.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess most people would be a little freaked out about sleeping with Satan.”

“Most people would be a little freaked out if they saw a dead man come back to life.” She reminded. “But I’m not most people.” _That_ was something Marcus could furiously agree with. Any woman that could keep Lucifer Morningstar as placid as she did deserved a medal. Deserved a throne. “And I never said I was sleeping with him.”

“Are you?”

“Duh. Any self respecting person with good taste, a libido, and an interest in men would sleep with him.”

The Lieutenant rolled his eyes. He wasn’t completely sure he agreed with that statement. “How long have you been in L.A.?”

“I only got here the day before I showed up at the precinct the first time.” She counted the days in her head. “So, two weeks? Something like that.”

“And you know about Chloe?”

“If you mean what she _does_ to him, then yeah. Can’t say I’m thrilled about it, but… ” She trailed off with a shrug of her own. “Decker doesn’t make you mortal too?”

“Unfortunately no. It only works with Lucifer.” 

The elevator chimed and when the doors opened, Isobel walked over to trade her drink for the takeout bags.

“Can you fix it?” She asked the fallen angel with a sweet look. “I never make them right.” 

Lucifer rolled his eyes and took a taste. “You put too much vodka in it.” He sighed and headed back behind the bar.

Pierce observed the exchange with clear amusement. “I didn’t think you knew what _too much vodka_ tasted like.”

“Well I don’t care how strong they are, but the lady is _sensitive_.”

“ _The lady_ just doesn’t like things that taste like shit.” Isobel quipped as Lucifer downed the drink completely and started to make her a new one.

“You know, if Isobel knows about you being the devil, and about Chloe making you vulnerable, maybe your father knew she was going pop up. Maybe she’s the reason you got your wings back and lost-”

 _“Back?”_ The woman almost choked on the word and Lucifer just shook the cocktail mixer harder with a nervous laugh.

“Ixnay on the ingsway, Pierce.” He hissed, only for Isobel to press the issue once he began to pour her drink.

“Where did they _go_ that they had to come _back_?”

“Nowhere, Izzy. They went nowhere.” He assured her. “Now let’s get this lifeless party started before the sesame chicken gets cold. The Lieutenant can pick the boardgame.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story hit 1K views while I was out and about today, so I decided to celebrate by posting chapter seven early! Which means chapter 8 will be posted on Wednesday! WooHoo!
> 
> I adore hearing from you guys and if you have anything you want to say about the story, or you're curious about something pertaining to it, and you don't want to comment on here, you can always drop by my [ask box](https://maelizwriting.tumblr.com/ask).
> 
>  P.S. Chapter 8 is kinda feelsy so be prepared.


	8. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn, For They Will Be Comforted

“Show them to me.”

Isobel had chosen to avoid the subject of Lucifer’s wings while Pierce was over, and the evening ended up running long and peaceful. Granted, there was a small hiccup when the devil got sent to jail in monopoly. He mentioned something, decidedly, inappropriate about handcuffs and the Lieutenant more than noticed the way he was scolded for it; otherwise the night was an all-around pleasant one. But with the small amount of trash picked up and Pierce gone, there was no escaping it any further, and Lucifer took the woman’s hands in his own.

“Isobel.”

“Now, Lucifer.” 

“Can’t you just trust that if I say they’re fine, then they’re fine?” He asked and she looked at him accusingly. She _wanted_ to trust him but could not find a reason for Marcus to have lied about such a random thing. Surely the cast-out angel would just present his wings if they were truly _fine_. “Let’s call it a night and we can address your peculiar fascination with my feathers some other time.”

“It’s not some vulgar curiosity, and you know it!” She barked, desperately grasping for patience against his evasiveness. “I _need_ to see them.”

Lucifer held his hands up in mock defense. “Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist, for goodness sake.” With a roll of his shoulders, they unfurled. White and majestic and glowing, and taking up _way_ more space than she remembered. Though Lucifer stood far enough away from any breakables for it to matter. Despite her awe, Isobel stayed quiet, and the way she stood staring at them in wordless admiration made him slightly uncomfortable. “Yes. Well. As you can see, they are right where they should be, so...” He began to tuck them away but stopped when she reached forward. 

“Nightingale, they’re beautiful.” She praised and ran her right hand over the firm arches. It had been so long since someone else touched his wings that goosebumps pulled as his skin when her hand dipped between his heavy primaries. The caress was slow and gentle, and it was clear that no amount of time or distance would make her forget how to properly handle his pieces of divinity. “Why did Marcus say you got them _back_?”

He had been dreading the question and sighed heavily before answering. “Because I had them removed.” 

It was no surprise when she jerked away. He knew she’d find the dismembering to be unacceptable. Everyone did. However Isobel would be the one to rain actual hellfire down upon him for it. So the devil closed his eyes and braced himself, but the blow, verbal or otherwise, never came.

Lucifer wasn't sure how long he waited before peeking one eye open, then the other; breaking his own heart. Isobel had sunken to the ground in a muted movement. With misted eyes and limp arms, she sat on her knees and looked up at him with something much more than pain. He’d never upset her like this before and a heavy shame formed in his chest. 

“But-But how did you-They’re-I don’t….” She spoke in shaky stammers as he joined her on the floor. Not bothering to hide his wings just yet. The woman forced herself silent so as to even out her breathing and brought her left hand up to rest on his cheek. “My sweet, Dark Prince, _why_?”

The way she addressed him bruised Lucifer’s soul more than the hurt in her voice. Since her arrival he had accused of her abandonment, pushed his luck, and tested her patience. He knew none of those things made her happy, and some of them he had even done on purpose. Yet after all of that, and learning that he’d gotten rid of his wings, which was a far more grievous offence, she still saw him as a prince. _Her_ prince.

“I didn’t want them when I came to Earth.” He explained, never before realizing how foolish it sounded, and he turned his face into her hand for a moment. Kissing her palm in a silent request for forgiveness. “I didn't want my father to have any hold over me, so I ordered Maze to cut them off, and I burned them sometime after.” Her soft hold on his cheek tightened with a flinch as he spoke. “Then when the Lieutenant showed up I woke up in the desert, and they were back.”

“Lucifer…”

“Naturally, I cut them off again myself, but they grew back a second time. So repeats the cycle.” The devil continued in a forced laugh, as though humor would dry her eyes. “I can’t remember how many times I tried. Four? Five? More? Finally I just decided to try and ignore them.”

“Could you not c-...” Isobel swallowed thickly against the words like saying them would actually make her sick. “Could you not _amputate_ them again, please?” She nearly whimpered and Lucifer managed a small nod. The woman moved to touch his wings again but the action was hesitant; like if she tried to feel them a second time they would vanish. Or fall off. That type of fear and uncertainty was more out of character for her than he could tolerate, and the devil pulled her towards him in a hug. “How could I have missed it?” She murmured sadly, with the tears finally spilling over. Her fingers pressed against the downy plumes around his shoulder blades as she clung to him. “How could I have _not known_?”

“We both know how busy you are, Isobel.” 

“ _Fuck_ busy, I should have been watching you _myself_.” She rasped and pulled away to look up at him again while he finally folded his wings away. “I was so worried about you when you came here. When you _stayed_ here. I know you’re impulsive but… _Shit_ Lucifer. I asked so many — _so many_ — to keep an eye on you, or check up on you, and they said you were fine. They _assured_ me that you were alright. They never told me about your wings. An angel not having wings is the exact _opposite_ of alright!”

The devil helped Isobel to her feet once she finished fuming.“Do you think that maybe _this_ is why they didn’t tell you? You tend to get a bit wrathful when you’re pissed off. It’s very _Old Testament_.” He mused before she gripped the collar of his shirt and jerked him down into a kiss; the suddenness of it taking him by surprise.

They had shared countless kisses over the course of knowing each other. Loving ones, protective ones, quick ones, and of course, lustful ones. But the way she kissed him now was rare. It wasn’t a hunger or a sadness that he felt in her touch, but a desperation. A desperation for _him_ rather than sex. It was an open and heavy and uneven embrace. As if he were the only source of oxygen in the room. As if it was _him_ that kept her alive. And the devil allowed it to consume him.

His hands moved up to her temples so that he could better angle her jaw towards his, and Lucifer wondered if the deep dark cosmic strands that fell between his fingers had always been so airy. Her hair felt like clouds against his skin; rolling over his knuckles in waves as the kiss grew stronger and she stepped closer. Casting aside the small distance that remained between them. When the moment came that the kiss had to be broken, and they were both left rather breathless and entranced, she looked at him with almost too much reverence for him to bear. 

_No one_ looked at him the way she did. Lovers had showered him with heated gazes of infatuation, and Chloe would give him an affectionate look from time to time, but Isobel’s eyes made him feel like the key to the universe. What’s more, he knew that she believed such a sentiment to be true.

“Starling…” The pet name floated from the woman’s lips in a whispered exhale and it broke the bewitchment cast upon Lucifer. His hands fell from her face, down past her hips, and caught under her glutes so that he could lift her up. As he did, Isobel’s hands laced behind his neck and her fingers reached into his hair. The next kiss was more gentle and controlled, but there was a weight behind it all the same, and he carried her off. Past the bar and into the bedroom; with his mouth on hers in divine perfection.

After she was carefully deposited onto the bed and he took a step back, Isobel looked out the window for a lingering second. It was late. The sun had been down for hours but Los Angeles didn't care. With the twinkling windows of skyscrapers and ever present headlights, the cityscape could never disguise itself as some dull void. In fact it looked more like a galaxy. A bundle of stars splashed against a backdrop of nothingness; ever changing and constantly moving, yet always beautiful. There was something poetic about how the lightbringer chose to root himself in a place that could never be dark, and the thought made her smile.

When she looked back at him again, Lucifer had shed his vest — having removed his jacket much earlier in the evening — and was undoing several buttons on his shirt. Not all of them, just enough to relax the way it fit his form, and he was as beautiful as the skyline. Tall and sleek and _captivating_ , without even trying. He was the embodiment of sin and she didn’t care. She _never_ cared. Not about that.

She cared about his happiness. About his safety. About _him_. The sudden kiss had been one of relief and devotion. No matter what happened in the past, nor what would be in the future, he was with her _now_. Present and whole. And in the same way he idolized her, she worshiped him. Wings or none, Isobel would celebrate Lucifer's existence for the entirety of hers, and she nearly melted when he sat behind her and pressed his lips to her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday! 
> 
> I've been super excited to post this chapter, partly because it's a COMPLETE revision of what it originally was, also because in the show, Amenadiel viewed Lucifer cutting off his wings as an annoyance, and then there was the time where Linda was pretty much "Lol, I'm not gunna cut them off for you. God is your dad." So I felt like it was important to have Isobel's first reaction be that of genuine sadness and distress since this person she cares so deeply about _willfully removed pieces of himself_.


	9. Be Kind To One Another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place directly within _S3 E14: "My Brother's Keeper"_ so potential spoilers for that episode I guess. Also: **This chapter mentions gun violence**

Isobel’s newfound restlessness was not a complete surprise, but it was mildly concerning. After the incident with Lucifer’s wings, and the wonderful intimacy that followed, the woman had grown increasingly assertive. The sex had been a uniquity in the sense that it was, well, vanilla. There were none of her usual displays of control and being on such an equal plane allowed them both to indulge and get lost within one another in a way they normally didn’t.

It had still been an ethereal experience, but held no similarities to their usual carnal acts. And while the devil didn’t blame all of Isobel’s increasing authoritarianism on the sex per say, he was sure it contributed to it. They’d engaged in ‘balanced’ lovemaking once or twice in the past, and she had always been more demanding afterwards.

The difference, back then, was that she had countless others to project her leadership onto. Sex without dominance, no matter how much she enjoyed it, always left her craving sovereignty. Isobel was sweet and kind and overly protective of Lucifer, but she was also a commander. Having him as the only one obeying her was not something she was used to, and it showed.

Over the past few days, her practices of power had slipped away from the subtle hand gestures and leading speech to clear commands; and Lucifer frequently found himself sitting on the floor with her reclined on the couch as they talked about L.A or whichever case he was working on, but he didn’t mind. Being in control made Isobel happy, and with the responsibility of trying to kill Pierce looming over him, the devil was more than willing to let her take the reins during those late nights.

After all, that was the only time she could sincerely exercise any full domination over him. He worked with Chloe during the day and tended to Lux in the evenings, and Isobel had sworn off showing _that side_ of herself in public. Though that didn’t stop her from checking up on him while he wasn’t home. Something she’d begun to do since discovering he had been wingless for a time.

When Lucifer’s phone chimed he assumed it would be an inquiry as to when he’d be returning to Lux for the day, or a request for him to be up in the penthouse by a certain time. However it was a much more alarming message.

**_“Pretty sure I just heard a gunshot downstairs. Going to go take a look.”_ **

Great. Just what he needed. Someone shooting up his club. 

 

An echoing pop had pulled Isobel away from her laptop and she decided to take the stairs, rather than the lift, to go down and investigate.

 ** _“R u sure?”_** The screen read when Lucifer texted back. It was almost comical that a creature as powerful as the devil would use such crude shorthand. 

**_“I know what a gun sounds like.”_** She sent as she reached the bottom level of Lux and peeked her head around the corner to find that she was right. It was a gun. Though not in the hands of some rogue shooter. **_“Nvm. It’s the Lt. and the first born.”_** The message was on its way before Lucifer could respond to the previous one, and Isobel tried not to roll her eyes as Pierce took a bullet to the chest and stumbled to the ground. Dead. At least for the moment anyway.

**_“...Is Amenadiel destroying my club?”_ **

**_“I got this. See you when you get back.”_ **

The older angel was definitely destroying Lux, and he was using Pierce as the wrecking ball. They both were so concerned with beating each other to bits that they never even noticed her, and she slid out the side exit just in time to meet the police cruiser pulling up in front of the building.

“Can I help you, officer?” She asked smoothly as one of the patrolmen got out of the car.

“We got a report about shots fired at this establishment.” The man explained. “Is everything alright here?”

“Oh my god, did someone really call you guys? I am so sorry. One of our CO2 tanks went off.” She lied through her teeth with an apologetic sigh. “We use them to pressurize the beer tap and the soda, and the things are volatile as hell. The new kid we hired was changing them out and dropped the thing. Busted the valve right off and sent it flying. It was loud, but it wasn’t a gunshot. Caused some damage, though.”

“Uh-huh… Mr. Morningstar’s the guy that owns this place, right?”

“Mhm, he’s actually with Detective Decker right now. I already let him know what happened. We had to close down for the day to take care of the mess.”

“And you are…?”

“Isobel Nova.” She flashed a friendly smile. “The manager.” 

The officer jotted something down and then looked at Lux before returning his attention to the woman. “Alright, Miss Nova, well we’re sorry to have bothered you. Glad to know everyone’s safe.”

“Thank _you_ for coming to check. There’s enough gun violence these days that I don’t blame someone for calling the cops when they hear some loud noise inside a club.” She mused and the man bid her good day. 

Isobel’s amiable expression dropped into a scowl the moment the cruiser was gone, and she headed back inside. Muttering to herself about ringing Amenadiel’s giant neck. 

Though her own assault against the angel would have to wait because he and the unkillable man were still at each other's throats when she made her way inside. Taking the stairs a second time, she slipped past them. There was no sense staying downstairs with blood and furniture flying everywhere.

It was a cycle that continued for longer than was necessary, really. She’d go downstairs every so often to check on them, and they would be too busy destroying the decor, and one another, to realize her presence. 

Their bout lasted for, Isobel was pretty sure, several hours. Which wasn't that surprising considering it was an immortal human versus a has-been angel. Eventually though, enough was enough, and when she finally did take the elevator down and the doors opened, Amenadiel was walking around the D.J. pit to free the Lieutenant from the wrought iron spike impaling him.

“Are you boys _done_ yet?” She asked rather languidly and stepped behind the bar to open the cooler.

Amenadiel spun around at the sound of her voice and quickly abandoned his effort to rescue Pierce with a cheerful, if not slightly confused, expression. “Isobel?”

The woman tossed him a water bottle. “The one and only.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Watching _him_ suffer, apparently.” She nodded to the skewered officer who was looking at them and waiting for someone to help him down.

“Do you even know who that is?”

“A man pretending to a kabob?”

In the background, Pierce released a cough-filled laugh, though the angel didn’t seem to find her joke humorous.

“Izzy, that’s Cain. He-”

“Wants to die.” She cut in. “I know all about it.”

“Then you understand why I can’t remove the mark.” He said as she walked toward him. If anyone could appreciate his point of view it would be her. She always saw through Lucifer’s crazy schemes. “Why I wouldn’t, even if I could.” 

“Amenadiel...” Isobel reached up and sandwiched his face between her palms. “I don’t care.” The mixed tone of sensitivity and indifference made God’s favorite squint in skepticism before pulling free from her grasp.

“What?”

“I have no interest in Marcus’, sorry, _Pierce’s_ literal self destruction. That’s between him, you, Lucifer, and your dear old dad.”

“He’s _your_ father too.”

“Holy shit, again with that. He’s everyone’s father! He’s _God_.” She huffed and watched as he finally freed the perforated officer. “Try not to bleed _everywhere_ , Lieutenant.”

The man huffed and held his side. “Right. ‘Cause I have control over that.”

Isobel snickered and steadied Pierce once his feet were on the ground. Lucifer had picked out the jumpsuit she was wearing and it was definitely going to be ruined. “You, stay here.” She told Amenadiel while helping the wounded man into the elevator. “Lucifer should be back soon and it’ll be better if _you_ tell him why this place is trashed.”

“I doubt that. He and I haven’t been seeing eye to eye.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen it before. It’s a family feud, followed by drama. Then _more_ drama with a healthy dose of brotherly love at the end, right?” That time, Amenadiel laughed at her jest. “I’ll be in L.A for a while, Mennie. So you know where to find me if you need me.” She hoped he wouldn’t need her.

A small familial smile worked its way onto the angel’s face and he nodded to the man leaning against her. “Be careful with that one, sister.” He said while the doors closed and Isobel exhaled sharply. 

“So you _are_ an angel.” Pierce groaned as he tried and failed to straighten his posture.

“I am _not_.”

“He called you his sister.”

“It’s one of his bad habits. I’ll explain it sometime when you _aren’t_ bleeding all over me.” She grumbled and fished her cell from her pocket to send another text to Lucifer. **_“Amenadiel is waiting for you downstairs.”_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, sticking to my posting schedule like a champ (NOT). I know it's Friday, but Chapter 10 became Chapters 10,11&12, and I refuse to post them one week at a time. SO here is chapter 9 today and then I will be posting the next three chapters on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. And THEN, the question of 'how does Isobel know Lucifer in the first place?' will be answered in Chapter 13. 
> 
> So please stick around. I love you guys more than you know <3
> 
> (Fun Fact: Interchangeable CO2 tanks _are_ used to pressurize beer taps and soda dispensers, but a club Lux's size is more likely to have a large refillable CO2 vat under the bar. My partner used to work for a soda distributor and now works for a beer distributor, and I consulted him for this chapter.)


	10. Submit Yourselves (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On this episode of “Shit’s About To Get Weird”: Isobel (probably) has a control issue, and if you’re not ready for a submissive Lucifer Morningstar and a dominant Marcus Pierce (outside of sexytimes) then I have some bad news for you.

“For dad’s sake.” Lucifer scoffed as he exited the elevator. “They completely wrecked the place, and can you believe that Amenadiel won’t-” He stopped short and paused his effort to remove his jacket. “What is _he_ still doing here?”

Isobel being home was expected, but Pierce should have been long gone. Not lounging on the sofa with his head in the woman’s lap. Yet that’s exactly what was happening, and he was enjoying the feel of Isobel’s fingers combing through his hair. Lucifer never understood his guest’s desire to muss up the hairstyles of others, but he knew that he didn’t want any extra company at the moment.

“Right. A drink for the road, Pierce?” He asked when the inhabitants of the couch didn't answer his fist question. Though they didn’t answer the second one either. “More for me then.” The devil huffed and finished shucking off his jacket. He poured himself a drink and downed it quickly, then poured another and turned to face them. “Am I bloody invisible?” He snapped and realized that Pierce’s eyes were closed. Was the man asleep? He certainly wasn’t dead, he was breathing.

“No. You are not invisible.” The woman said dryly. “You’re being rude.” She was scolding Lucifer and he knew it, but he was too strung out to care. Dealing with Ella’s prick of a brother all day and then returning to a trashed club and dealing with his own prick of a brother had left Satan feeling rather prickish himself. 

“Oh, of course. I’m _terribly_ sorry.” He mocked, and a wiser man would have recognized the growing storm in Isobel’s eyes. Unfortunately, the devil wasn’t wise in that moment, he was stressed, and he walked over to stand directly in front of the pair. “Lieutenant Pierce, won’t you please remove your head from Miss Nova’s lap and your ass from my couch. I’ve had a rather trying day and do not wish to entertain.”

Isobel frowned. “Lucifer.”

“He’s right.” The officer agreed flatly as he opened his eyes and sat up. “I should get going.”

“Splendid idea.” Lucifer’s snide comment earned him a rebuking glare from the woman and he had the sense not to say anything further. 

“Just wait, Marcus.” The request was quiet but not shy, and Isobel’s hand on his arm was all it took to convince him to stay seated while she stood. “You may not want company, Lucifer, and that’s fine. But he’s _my_ guest tonight.”

“Fucking Hell, woman! Just let the man leave already!”

She was not going to allow this wretched attitude to continue. _“Knees.”_

The word itself was almost enough to make Lucifer’s legs buckle out from underneath him. _Almost_ , but not quite. He had been so well behaved in recent days that surrendering to her had become reflexive again. However, obeying her _in front of others_ was not reflexive. That much he could admit to himself, and he knew she knew it. 

When Pierce was around them last, Isobel’s position over Lucifer had been rather ambiguous. She’d asked him to fix her a drink every so often and had reprimanded any crude comments he chose to make, but the devil didn’t see those things as inherently assertive. Rather they were her way of getting him to be polite. 

But asking, no- _telling_ him to drop to his knees was a very blatant display of power. A move Lucifer never thought she’d make in front of the Lieutenant of all people. Isobel didn’t even have the courtesy to use more than one word. Surely if he followed the instruction he’d be no better than a dog carrying out commands. Loyal but mindless.

Still, the fact that he hadn’t obeyed was proof enough of his sentience, and he rolled his tongue into his cheek defiantly while looking at her in particular. Hoping that he could silently convince her to reconsider. Though it was pointless. 

The woman was more than aware of their extra company, she just didn't care; and she had no intentions of revoking the command. Something Lucifer realized when he could see an ‘L’ forming on her mouth. Her lips were readying to speak his name in that hard monotone of hers, and just the threat of it was enough to make the cast out angel comply.

Not hastily however, Isobel noted. She’d given enough varying instructions over her lifetime to know that eagerness was the heavy thud of falling knees, and joints that couldn't wait to bow before her.

Lucifer’s enthusiasm had never shown itself through the strange detached reaction he had to her guidance just following their reunion. Nor was it demonstrated in the way he now slowly dropped one knee and then the other. The movement was slow and rigid and inorganic, but it brought a small smile to Isobel’s lips all the same, and a genuine one at that. 

It wasn’t the type of half smile that accompanied knitted brows when was worried about him or the one in which her lips pulled up at one corner mischievously. Despite the angel’s hesitation and attitude, she was still proud of him; and the smile was a shining applause. However with Pierce around the praise seemed to lose its luster.

“Well done, chickadee.” She commended, yet the devil’s ears translated her sweet sincerity into patronization, and he closed his eyes. Lucifer couldn’t bear to look at the Lieutenant after yielding to such an unpleasant command. But even with the break in visual contact he could still feel the immortal man’s gaze boring into him.

Pierce was far less condemning than Lucifer imagined him to be, though. If anything, the unkillable man was taken aback. The strangeness of the devil’s obedience made him leery, but his curiosity was strong enough to keep him from bolting for the elevator, and he remained seated; watching Isobel move behind Lucifer with more tender encouragement spilling from her lips.

“Bunting, relax.” She soothed and rubbed his shoulders, causing them to drop slightly without fully releasing their tension. Isobel continued with the meager massage despite the devil’s refusal to open his eyes. “I’m here and there isn’t anything to worry about. You’re alright.” When she bent down to place a kiss on the back of his neck, Lucifer visibly shivered. Skin to skin contact with her was intoxicating enough on its own, and even more so when it was unexpected. After she stood up straight again, the angel could feel the gel in his hair shifting as she ran her fingers through it. Freeing his curls from their light styling. Eventually, Isobel’s hand came to rest on the back of his head, and to her delight, he allowed himself to lean against her palm. “There’s my darling jay. Very good.” 

The kind words and sweet nicknames were finally sinking in, and Lucifer secretly mourned the woman’s absence after she wiped away the residual styling product from her hands onto his vest and stepped away. He wanted more of her touch. More of her approval.

Pierce could do nothing but stare, and his usually indecipherable light eyes were full of questions. He watched Isobel leave the kneeling angel and take up position behind the couch. The Lieutenant turned to look at her with intrigue scrawled all over his face, but she said nothing, and the silence prompted him to face forward once again.

It was clear how relaxed Lucifer was even if his eyes remained closed. His posture was immaculate but his muscles were no longer wound tight, and Pierce admired the woman’s ability to remain calm and capable despite the devil’s clear unwillingness to cooperate with whatever _it was_ she was doing. Satan was putty Isobel’s hands and as much the Lieutenant liked it, it scared him.

It also scared him when Isobel dumped her arms over his shoulders from her place rear-adjacent to him and let her hands settle idly on his chest. Pierce’s ribs rose and fell from the sharp breath caused by her sudden closeness, but her position remained and a momentary panic coursed through him. He had no idea what was going on or _why_ Lucifer listened to the woman in the first place. Things were not adding up and Marcus wondered why he was still there. He should have left when club-owner returned home, if not before.

“Hit him.” Isobel’s words broke the weighty silence and they made the devil swallow thickly. Pierce could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end and he was torn from his thoughts. The woman’s mouth had been right beside his ear when she spoke, and she leaned away to grant some much needed space between them as he looked to her once again.

_“Excuse me?”_

“What?” She asked, as if what she mentioned wasn’t the least bit outlandish. Her fingers trailed up to rest on his shoulders while she righted her posture. “He deserves it.” 

Lucifer did _not_ like the sound of that but he found his body unwilling to move and resigned to picking at his cufflinks with still shut eyes.

“I think I should go.” The Lieutenant remarked but didn’t fight the small amount of pressure Isobel applied to his shoulders. Urging him to stay. 

“You spent your entire day battling with an angel who — from what I can see — didn’t actually wrong you, yet you have an issue striking the one who _has_?” 

Lucifer liked that question even _less_ than the words she had spoken before and he shifted uncomfortably on his knees. If Isobel noticed, she chose not to address it.

“Look…” Pierce started. “I can respect this _thing_ you two have going on, but-”

“How many times has Lucifer tried to kill you?”

“Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? I don’t know, I’m not interested in trying to kill him back.”

“Neither am I, Lieutenant, but I have never condoned his bouts of bratty behavior and I do not intend to now.”

_Finally_ , the devil opened his eyes. Isobel and Marcus had gotten on like milk and honey since she found out he was Cain. If they were going to argue then he was _absolutely_ going to watch. Just as Lucifer's eyes adjusted to the the light, Pierce’s palm fell against his face, and with a warm cheek and ringing ear, the angel re-closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super hesitant to post this 3 chapter sequence, but now that the first part is up there's no going back! 
> 
> Part 2 will be posted on Wednesday.


	11. Submit Yourselves (Part Two)

“Again, but a bit lower. Try to stay away from the ears.” Isobel said and the man glanced back at her with an expression that transparently read _‘what the fuck?’_ But she simply offered up a supporting smile.

Lucifer had barely come to terms with the actuality of being struck, before the second blow came. To his right cheek this time and lower as had been recommended, but harder. A mild burning sensation settled itself into the devil’s skin and he recognized it as the aftermath of being backhanded. He wasn’t sure how the Lieutenant could be strong enough to make him feel it, but reasoned that perhaps it was the mark. Or one of Isobel’s tricks.

“He’s divine. Not mortal or Earthbound. You can’t hurt him like you did Amenadiel.” She gave an encouraging squeeze to Marcus’ shoulders. “But I’m sure with 18 more you can perfect it.” The man gave no clear objection and she took it as an agreeance to continue. An assumption which was proven correct when the left side of Lucifer’s face was graced with another hit. However Isobel reached out her own arm when Pierce drew his back a fourth time. “Open your eyes, Lucifer.” Her voice took on a compelling sternness. “We can’t have you imagining _me_ to be the one hitting you.”

Hell’s Warden wondered how he could possibly pretend that the Lieutenant was Isobel in such a situation. Pierce’s hands were _much_ larger and covered more of his face than hers ever would. Not to mention how unbridled they were. Still, he knew better than to mention it and did as he was told. 

Seeing the pair together the way they were made Lucifer’s head swim. From his lowered point of view, Marcus appeared more broad and overbearing than ever with his arms folded over his chest, and strangely enough it wasn’t a completely unpleasant thing to witness. Especially with Isobel being the Lieutenant’s accompaniment. 

Small fractions of light, discolored from the various bottles on display at the bar, caught against her hair and skin, and they flickered like stars on her figure; and even though _she_ was the one giving the orders, her face was temperate and soft. It was a warm invitation against the man’s commanding features and Lucifer felt pleasantly subdued by the sight. Isobel was a universe waiting to swallow him whole and Pierce would be the one feeding him to her.

“Good boy.” The praise sent a flutter through the devil’s heart and to his stomach. Wilting his posture for a fleeting instant before he corrected it again. Any remaining resistance had fully left him and the words Isobel spoke were still honest and heartfelt. However, this time there was a pronounced tug at the left corner of her mouth. 

Another faint squeeze to Marcus’ shoulders was the sign to continue, but the Lieutenant chose to lean forward instead of delivering another hit. His elbows came to rest on his knees and the encroachment made Lucifer want to pull away. Such an intentional invasion of his personal space set off alarm bells somewhere in the back of the angel’s brain, but rather than retreat, he opted to wet his noticeably dry lips.

Though no matter how hard Lucifer tried, Pierce was too much to look at, and his eyes settled on the woman once again. Her own arms had crossed, now that the man was out of reach, and her expression was sly. Lucifer grew so intent on unraveling whatever plan swirled about in her lock-box of a brain that he didn't pay attention when the Lieutenant raised his arm. 

The sound of skin meeting skin echoed off the penthouse’s walls as if Lux itself applauded the amount force Pierce used. An exertion which was obvious to the kneeling angel because his right cheek _hurt_. It stung and burned, and the strike had made his jaw part ever so slightly. The Lieutenant’s knuckles were unforgiving, and Lucifer wanted to touch his face and soothe the aching flesh. But he didn’t. 

“Thank him, Lucifer.” Isobel coaxed and his eyes flew back to her in disbelief. “You need this, don’t you?” She wasn’t necessarily wrong. He couldn’t think about anything but the _ache_ in his face and what was going on in that exact moment. The worries about killing Cain and keeping Amenadiel at bay had been magnificently ripped from him, but surely there were _other_ ways to remedy such stresses. “You did ask him to teach you manners after all.”

Lucifer opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it with a sharp exhale. The more he looked at Isobel the more he realized that this whole display _really was_ about putting him in his place. Being on his best behavior after she discovered the truth about his wings did not make up for the fact that the dismemberment was an act of blasphemy. Not only against his father but against her as well. 

Those glowing white plumes were what made him the lightbringer. They were the _reason_ she had been drawn to him in the first place, and her agony over the knowledge of what happened was now outrage. Still, the woman adored him and she couldn't bring herself to properly punish the Prince of Darkness. 

She _could_ , however, convince Pierce to do it for her. Whether the immortal man knew it or not. So when Lucifer remained silent, the Lieutenant leaned back, and the monarchial sigh that escaped Isobel was unmistakable. She had full control over the situation and the devil had no choice but to fight his knotted vocal cords.

“Thank you-” He choked out hoarsely. Momentarily squeezing his eyes shut to swallow away the tightness his throat. Only to be met with the earthquake inducing view of the duo when he opened them again. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” 

Marcus appeared honestly surprised at the words but Lucifer was thankful his voice had accomplished some sound of normalcy, and he managed a steady breath with the next smack. Pierce could hit harder than anyone predicted, and the King of Hell barely finished the obligatory ‘thank you’ before being struck a seventh time.

 

It was after the fourteenth hit that the Dark Prince’s resolve visibly cracked. His shoulders began to slump, and he was having trouble keeping his lidded eyes fully open. Lucifer’s words, while still clearly decipherable, had lost their crispness; and he was so engulfed in his own physical suffering that he didn’t notice Isobel’s change in position.

“Raven…” She had left her place behind Pierce to stand beside the devil, and the term of endearment prompted him to seek her out. Her voice was soft and quiet compared to the noisiness of Marcus’ hands on his face and his brown eyes fluttered up at her. Threatening to stay closed. Though they shot open when she reached down to cradle his cheeks in her palms.

His body matched the jerkiness of his eyelids and he jolted. His stubbled face was sore and aching, and wary of being touched. But the woman’s cool skin proved to be an irresistible balm and Lucifer rested his head against her fingers. When she moved to squat in front of him, his neck turned so that he didn't have to leave her touch, and she joined the angel’s lowered height while blocking out the view of the immortal man on the couch.

“You’ve done beautifully, cardinal. I know he hits hard, but you’re taking it so well.” Her praise was potent, and Lucifer’s limbs felt heavy against how strangely erotic her word choice was. “I’m proud of how you’ve held up, only six more to go hmm?” She trilled, and he didn’t need clarification or bluntness to understand that the woman was offering him an out.

He knew what he looked like — beaten and wilted — and now that Isobel was satisfied with the events that had transpired, it could be over. Yet the devil chose to roll his shoulders, straighten up, and carry on with the hope that Pierce would have some semblance of mercy for the remaining blows.

 

It was a hope that proved worthwhile. Mostly. The five impacts following the intermission were significantly milder, but Marcus made the last one count. The final smack against Lucifer’s right cheek sent him teetering to the left and he was forced to catch himself with an outstretched arm. 

The impromptu punishment was over, but no one moved nor spoke. Lucifer was still recovering from the torment and Isobel, who had reclaimed her position behind the couch, was watching him intently. While the Lieutenant seemed to be in a type of limbo.

Pierce’s focus was locked on the still kneeling angel whose cheeks were splashed with rosy pinks and glowing reds. There were even blotches of maroon where the officer’s knuckles had tenaciously slammed against Lucifer’s cheekbones, and Marcus found himself unable to look away. That was until the devil’s eyes caught his own. The moment their gazes met, the immortal man clenched his jaw and stood, with Isobel finally breaking the silence.

“Marcus?” When the query inspired no further words or movements, she circled to the front of the sofa to bend down and kiss the top of Lucifer’s head. “You did perfectly.” She praised before standing properly and looking at Pierce. “Both of you.” The Lieutenant walked away from them with mild scoff and at first Isobel thought he was headed to the bar — she was sure they _all_ needed a drink after what had taken place — but it soon became clear that he intended to board the elevator. “Pierce.”

“It’s late. I should go.”

The woman sighed at his excuse. It wasn’t _that_ late and the strange series of events hadn’t take nearly as long everyone felt they did. Twenty minutes at most, she estimated. 

“You did good, starling.” She assured Lucifer again. “I’ll be right back.” Isobel wasn’t fond of leaving him alone after something so rough and unexpected, but she could not let the Lieutenant be a loose end. So when the lift doors opened, she rushed to accompany him.

“Shouldn’t you be with Lucifer?” The man finally asked once the machine began its descent. Hew knew that even Satan was bound to be less than stellar after what had happened.

“I should be, yes, but _you_ decided to make a run for it.”

“So?”

“I want to know why. You stayed much later the last time you were in the penthouse, so please do better than the ‘it’s late’ bullshit.”

“I just smacked the devil around, _literally_ , for God knows what reason. I may not be able to die, but Lucifer’s not exactly the forgiving type and I’m not a masochist.”

“No, but you are undoubtedly a sadist.” She pointed out and Pierce scoffed. “You kept hitting him because you wanted you, and he let you. Plain and simple. No one makes the King of Hell do things that he doesn't want to do.” A soft ding signaled they had reached the ground floor and Isobel stepped in front of the man to block his exit. 

Instead of trying to maneuver around her, Marcus crossed his arms over his chest yet again. “ _You_ do.”

“I don’t actually. I just lead him to a place where he can be vulnerable. Lucifer is Satan. An Angel. He’s a force to be reckoned with, even for me.” The officer’s clear lack of understanding reminded Isobel that he was still in the dark about certain things . “If he absolutely didn’t want to be any part of what happened upstairs then _both_ of us would know about it by now.” A smirk made its way to her face and Pierce huffed when she pressed the button for the penthouse, causing the doors to close. “If you don’t believe me, then come back up and see for yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 of this sequence will be posted on Friday!


	12. Submit Yourselves (Part Three)

Upon the elevators return, Lucifer looked over from his spot at the bar and hastily finished his scotch as Pierce stepped out behind Isobel. He didn't actually think the man would come back with her.

“Throw the piano off the balcony” The woman said as he set his glass down and he looked at her as if she were deranged.

“Ex-bloody-scuse me?” He _maybe_ expected her to say something about his decision to get up and pour himself a drink, though she hadn’t told him to stay on the floor, but a demand like that was too outrageous. “I don’t think so.”

“No?” Lucifer’s eyebrows pulled together and he stepped back a bit as she made her way closer to him. The affirming question sounded more like a warning and it made him concerned, but he was certainly _not_ destroying his piano.

“No…”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean ‘why not’? It’s my _piano_! And my _only_ piano at the moment since I now have to replace the one downstairs.” He seethed, but ceased his ranting once Isobel gave Pierce the universal ‘I told you so’ look. “He wanted me to destroy my own instrument?!”

“No, magpie, no.” She couldn’t hide her amused laughed as she joined his side and leaned into his shoulder. “He’s under the impression that you do things _just_ because I tell you to. Like there isn’t something more to it.”

Lucifer scoffed and left the woman steady herself when he shifted back towards the bar for more alcohol. “That’s called slavery, Pierce.” The devil reminded, while pouring himself and the man a glass of scotch and then reaching over the counter to grab a nearly empty bottle of wine. “It’s been outlawed in this country for quite some time. You’re with the police, you should know that.”

Isobel snickered and took the glass of merlot Lucifer poured. Sipping it slowly while Marcus finished his liquor in no time at all.

“Ask me to do it again.”

The devil threw him a look of confusion mixed with disbelief. “I beg your pardon?”

“Ask me. To hit you. Again.” Pierce repeated in rhythm and Lucifer rolled up his sleeves with a chuckle.

“Oh please, Lieutenant.” His voice had resumed it’s sarcastic tone, but lacked the bitterness which had gotten him in trouble earlier. “Do continue beating me.”

The man was aching to do just that. He wanted to punch the smug look right off Lucifer’s face more than he thought was possible, and expected some comment from Isobel when the angel glanced her way. However she pretended not to notice and only tipped her glass back for a mouthful of wine. Clearly she was not going to get involved in their chest-puffing.

Suddenly, Lucifer grew morbidly curious. The Lieutenant had been obviously hesitant earlier, and it was Isobel’s goading that finally made him follow to her suggestions, but how would he react without her explicit approval? 

There was only one way to find out and the devil’s knees hit the floor with a ‘thud’. Behind him, he couldn’t see the combined expression of shock and pride which blessed Isobel’s features. _That_ was what eagerness looked like.

It wasn’t a spoken request but Pierce figured it was good enough and he stepped closer to the King of Hell. However, this time Lucifer actually did lean back at the assault upon his personal bubble.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marcus asked as he squatted down, earning an agitated scoff from kneeling celestial.

“I’m not _going_ anywhere. You are just too-” He fell silent when a thumb pressed itself to his mouth and dragged over his lips. Lucifer had not anticipated something so intimate when he allowed Pierce to take the lead.

“You talk to much.” The man complained and Lucifer’s jaw parted slightly once his hand pulled away. Though the contact quickly returned when Marcus seized his chin and turned his face to examine it. Most of the damage was already gone thanks to the angel’s divinity, but there were still a few lingering bruises. “And you need ice.”

When the officer stood, Lucifer took the same liberty and watched him walk around the bar to access the ice chest. “So you’ve decided not to completely ruin my good looks, then?”

It was Pierce’s turn to be crude, and he did spoke with a small smirk. “Too much pain takes away from the pleasure.” 

“Ah~” The devil’s antics were in full swing once more. “So you _do_ know about that sort of thing.”

“I told you, I’ve tried _everything_.” 

Lucifer hummed knowingly and when the Lieutenant wrapped a handful of ice in a clean dishcloth, he happily accepted it. “You do hit rather hard.” He said and gingerly held the bundle to his right cheek. Pierce’s backhand would not be something easily forgotten. “Though I assume you already know that.”

“Would you have preferred it if I was gentle?” 

“No, I suppose not.” He muttered and Isobel burst out laughing. 

Both men turned to see her leaning against the piano in absolute hysterics. She had tried to stay unnoticed and let them have their moment, but it was far too entertaining and her composure had slipped away.

“I’m proud of you, starling.” She said once she stopped giggling. Using her favorite pet name. “Why don’t you go shower and freshen up. Marcus will be here when you’re done.”

Lucifer didn’t need to be told twice. Hell, he didn’t have to be told at all. He was drained and a hot shower sounded _wonderful_. So with a quick kiss to the woman’s cheek he was off, and she was stepping back over to the bar to put down her glass.

“I never said I’d stay, you know.” Pierce reminded as he watched her.

“You don’t have to say it. I know you will.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because…” She sauntered back behind the counter and reached up for a vintage bottle. “We have wine.” When she proved too short to actually reach it, Marcus plucked it from the shelf for her.

“Well I guess that’s a good enough reason.” He agreed and Isobel released a merry hum as she poured them each a glass.

 

“So when exactly did _this_ happen?” Lucifer asked when he finally returned from his half hour of relaxation; his finger bouncing between the two people on his couch. Though it was less ‘sitting’ and more of Isobel being draped over the Lieutenant. Leaning against his shoulder in a way that seemed even more affectionate than when the man’s head had been in her lap at the beginning of the evening.

“When did _what_ happen?” Isobel asked and Lucifer motioned to them again with a fully outstretched arm. “Oh. We bonded over our mutual interest in your pain.” She teased and the devil rolled his eyes.

“Ha-ha, very funny.”

“Come on, lark, don’t be so sour. It’s comfy over here.” 

“I see you’ve mellowed out.” He noted and joined them, sitting on the opposite side of Isobel. He had opted to go shirtless and was wearing only a pair of cotton pajama pants, but neither she nor Pierce seemed to mind. After exchanging a rather sweet kiss with the woman, he sprawled out onto the leather cushions and plopped his head in her lap.

“Isn’t this whole relationship between you two kinda ‘Game Of Thrones’?” Pierce asked suddenly and Isobel nearly snorted while Lucifer tilted his head back to get better a look at the man.

“What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Amenadiel called me his sister today.” Isobel explained.

“Of course he did. Did he ask why you were here?”

“I think he knows I’m here to see you, wren, what other reason would I have?”

“So he didn’t ask, then?”

“Well I mean I guess he kind of did, but our friend here…” She patted the top the Lieutenant’s thigh. “Was a Pierce-Kabob at the time, so it helped draw the attention off the ‘Izzy in L.A.’ issue.”

Lucifer squinted at Marcus. “If Amenadiel turned you into swiss cheese then how come your shirt’s fine?”

“Isobel gave me on of your undershirts. It barely fits. But what I want to know is why the ‘Izzy in L.A. issue’ is an issue at all.” The pair beside him exchanged glances before the devil sat up.

“ _That_ is a story in itself, Lieutenant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun-Dun-DUN! This means the next chapter is the big reveal. I don't know if you guys are going to like it or not... But we'll see won't we? I'm also still tweaking said chapter, so I'm not sure how long it will be. If it's too long it'll be split in two and I'll do another Tuesday-Thursday week, if not, it'll be posted on Wednesday. <3


	13. In The Beginning

Nothingness is a lack of substance which the human mind cannot comprehend. Yet that’s how things once were. Empty. There was no light or dark. No engulfing black or blinding white. There was nothing. And God desperately longed to turn nothing into _something_.

His first attempt to fill the vast emptiness was botched and unsuccessful — for there was once a time when the deity was young and inexperienced — though it was not entirely fruitless. The void was not blessed with complete creation, but it was graced with divinity nonetheless. In his effort, God had produced a nebula of elements. An ethereal cloud that lingered in his presence and, with care and attention, began to evolve and comprehend its existence. This was God’s first success, known as the First Formation; and he came to call the achievement Isobel. A word meaning ‘consecrated to God’, because it was sacred in his eyes.

As time passed, and God and his sole creation wandered through the barrenness, they happened upon another with his power. An entity who called herself female, and _Goddess_. Being the only two of their kind, God and Goddess grew fond of each other and thus they united as one. Combining their power and forces so as to truly fill the nothingness; and it was then that the First Formation knows as Isobel came to be seen as a draft for the universe.

The void was filled with clouds of elements resembling Isobel, though they lacked sentience, and all around there were stars and clusters of stars like those which had begun to form within the First Formation. Isobel was cosmos within the greater cosmos, and it was a beautiful thing.

Eventually it came to be that the Goddess, desiring something more than the mere expanse of space, longed for children and a place to raise them. It was then that she and her husband built for themselves a home of grandeur and called it Heaven, and they took on solid forms for themselves so that their children may know them to be more than intangible spirits. 

However, the one known as Isobel cried out to them. “I am unable to manifest such a form for myself! Surely I will be cursed to exist as a force without structure, and your sons and daughters will never know me as they know you!”

Hearing the plea of his First Formation, God granted Isobel a sturdy and capable appearance. One with the visage of a girl, whose eyes shone brightly from the stars held within her, and whose hair remained as rayless as the holes in the universe. It was an embodiment which allowed her to grow and reside within Heaven beside God and his wife, and their children the angels; and she spent the comparative childhood of her existence learning at God’s side.

When the time came for the youngest of God’s offspring to be born, Heaven was engaged in celebration. The birth of a child was always a joyous time, but it had been long thought that this angel would be like no other, and all of Heaven’s occupants became eager for the arrival. And the child proved to be a boy. A son of God graced with shining white wings, and the creator held his youngest in his arms and said:

“I shall name you Samael! For you will be my greatest soldier, and you shall deliver my wrath to any that may stand against Heaven.”

Yet in the absence of her husband and in the company of the First Formation, the Goddess quietly decreed otherwise. “My youngest son, you may be a sacred soldier to your father but you will forever be the lightbringer to me, your mother.” She told the infant. “For you have refilled my life with joy and happiness anew.

So it came to be that Isobel took to calling the young angel — known as Samael — Lucifer. A word meaning ‘light-bearing’, because his wings were pure and bright and glistened like the stars which she contained. And she possessed a fondness for him greater than any angel that had been born before.

As Samael grew, his father’s disisterest did as well. God had become bored of Heaven and the expansive universe, and he began to formulate an idea of non-spirit based creatures. A concept which he called humanity, and it began to consume him. Seeing her husband’s distraction and disregard for his family, the Goddess began to shut herself away from her children so that they would not see her sorrow; and she began arguing with God. Filling Heaven with anger and discord.

In the wake of their parents absence, the angels began to fight amongst themselves and battle one another. Calling out to their father and cursing each other when he would not appear. Though God had indeed noticed his children's upset, and after a time he summoned to himself his eldest son.

“Amenadiel my eldest. You have always been loyal and truthful to me.” He praised the angel. “Tell me, where is the one called Isobel? Unlike yourself and your siblings, she has not sought out my company.”

To which the black-winged angel informed his father: “The one who has grown beside me as a sister has taken it upon herself to ease the tension within our Silver City. She councils your angels to stay their anger, and preaches patience.”

“Bring her to me that I may speak to you both regarding this harshness between your brothers and sisters.” God instructed, and after it was that Amenadiel fetched Isobel from the fighting, he spoke again, saying: “Amenadiel, first born of the angels and my firstborn son; your brothers and sister have pitted themselves against each other, and surely they will destroy Heaven in their wake. What can be done to end the strife between them?”

At being met with such a question, Amenadiel spoke as a son beseeching his father rather than a warrior addressing his king. “We long for closeness with you and with our mother, the Goddess. For we feel abandoned and betrayed, and I beg of you to return to us as you once were.”

Hearing such, God then spoke to Isobel. “Isobel, my First Formation, she who contains stars; my children have pitted themselves against each other and surely they will destroy Heaven in their wake. What can be done to end the strife between them?”

“Your children bicker like fledgelings because they lack guidance. Order must be made to stand in Heaven or else Heaven itself will not stand at all.” She promised him, lending authority to her voice.

It was after her words that God fell silent for a few short moments. Pondering the answers given by his firstborn and primary creation before addressing them again. “This war between angels cannot continue, and you have both spoken your wisdom to me as the oldest life forms after myself and the Goddess, for which I am appreciative. Amenadiel, my son, your brothers and sisters need direction and leadership, and you will bear witness to the words I now speak. From this moment henceforth, it will be she known as Isobel who will preside over Heaven in my stead. For she has been at my side the longest, and took it upon herself to exercise authority over my bickering children. Hers is the guidance you will follow and she will be an extension of my sovereignty.”

 

“And _that_ is why no one knows that story.” Lucifer said with a gesture to Pierce’s gobsmacked expression as he rose from the couch to refill Isobel’s empty glass with wine for himself. The devil very much needed a drink after hearing her reminisce. “Of course after all of the angels fell in line, my dear old dick of a dad actually made your mother and father, Lieutenant, and the rest is biblical history, really.”

“So, you’re the Queen of Heaven, who’s not an angel…” Marcus recapped slowly. Still coming to terms with the news. “And you’re sleeping with the devil?”

“You got it!” She smiled and stood to stretch while Lucifer took the liberty of filling Pierce’s empty glass as well.

“Fun fact, however. We didn’t actually end up having sex until _after_ I was cast out.” The angel mused and set the bottle back down on the piano. “In case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t.”

Isobel scoffed and rubbed the back of her neck. “You boys play nice, I have to get out of these clothes.” After Pierce bled all over her jumpsuit earlier she had changed into a pair of business casual slacks and a half-sleeve shirt, but now that everyone had become more relaxed, she was dying to get into something comfier.

Both men watched her head to the bedroom to change, and Pierce seemed slightly put-off when the shirtless devil sat directly beside him. It was different when there was a body between them, and now Lucifer’s lack of clothing was a tad awkward.

“It’s a shame she doesn’t have an interest in someone better.” The brit said as his head cocked to one side once Isobel was out of sight, and the Lieutenant raised a brow.

“What?”

“She’s very interested in being friends with you.” He explained and quickly swigged away his wine. “But in my experience, friends turn to lovers, and you’d be terribly unsatisfying. I just want better for her.”

“How do you know anything about my ability to satisfy?”

“From our time undercover, of course. If that kiss was anything to go by you’re a walking disaster. It’s no wonder you’re so sullen all the time.” The insult had Pierce rolling his eyes and he inched away from Lucifer.

When Isobel returned it was in a pair of pale pink satin pajamas. And the sleek tank top matched with long pants left her looking deceitfully harmless when she plopped herself down in the middle of the the two males.

“Did someone die while I was changing?” She asked jokingly after sensing the new lack of camaraderie between them. They were each slightly turned away the each other and it was a far throw from the friendly demeanor they shared before she left the room.

“The Lieutenant and I just clash when it comes to certain _personal_ matters.” Lucifer explained and Isobel huffed softly before looking to Pierce. 

“You two _really_ dislike each other that much?”

The immortal man had enough courtesy to turn towards her but he remained silent. From his peripheral vision he could see Lucifer sitting behind Isobel and motioning to her. Gesturing with raised brows and taunting eyes. It was a challenge for the officer to put his money where his mouth was and prove that he wasn’t the dull inadequacy the devil thought him to be. After all, who better to judge someone's abilities other than the Queen of Heaven?

Whether it was the thrill of having an embodied galaxy sat beside him or the desire to prove Lucifer wrong, Marcus was inexplicably driven to press his lips to Isobel’s before she could turn away; and when he did, she didn’t mind.

Not immediately, at least. To even her own surprise, the woman allowed herself to relax into it first and then pulled away at a second thought. Leaving Pierce to stare at her, and Lucifer to stare at them both.

After a moment of silence, the Lieutenant cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, that was wrong. I shouldn’t have-”

Isobel’s mouth against his own silenced the apology, and Lucifer gave an approving expression at her audacity. “ _Now_ things are getting interesting.” He mused as the pair beside him began to abandon any hesitation they held.

Oddly enough he wasn’t jealous to see Isobel’s hands slip under the borrowed shirt Pierce was wearing, or to witness the officer’s hand fall to rest on the back of her neck. It was different than that night she had occupied herself with the mortal downstairs because _this_ human would never submit to her. Marcus had been his own person and in charge of other people for too long to surrender control, and it was clear in the way he crowded her. 

He was clearly doing _something_ right, though, because after she pushed him back, Isobel shifted into his lap by her own accord and trapped him to the couch with one leg on either side of his thighs. Her mouth peppered his jaw with rough kisses and then traveled down his neck and met his shoulder. Sucking a bruise into bloom. The blotch was light and began to fade almost as quickly as it appeared, but it had been there. Proof that she would not take a backseat to what was ahead.

It was Lucifer who ultimately suggested moving things to the bedroom, in a passing comment about space and comfort, and it sent the trio crossing the expanse of the flat. They wound up spending a good portion of the short walk tripping over each other’s feet when Isobel insisted on breaking away from Marcus so that she could kiss the angel. Being sure to exude just as much, if not more, heat and passion with him as she had with Cain. Lucifer was her starling and her Prince of Darkness. He would not be left out.

Still, it was she and the unkillable mortal who fell to the bed together when they reached their destination, and she laughed when she bounced against the bed before their mouths met again. Except Marcus’ lips didn’t feel impatient any longer. Rather, the kiss he bestowed upon her was purposeful and sensual. A thing that could easily be mistaken as a token of love to the less experienced.

Though at best it was appreciation that shone in the man’s eyes, not love; and even more likely it was simple lust. A desire which was recognizable on his face. Laid out on the bed with her long hair cascading around her in an obsidian halo, Isobel was beautiful in a way Pierce hadn’t noticed before. She was flawless. And far too tempting for him resist.

She didn’t object when his lips danced across her collar bone or when he pushed up the loose fabric around her torso to kiss her abdomen. Her skin was hot to the touch and it called to him, and when his mouth met the waistband of her pants he removed that bit of clothing entirely.

It was then that Isobel reached up to the angel above her with imploring hands. He had been watching with rapt attention from beside the bed as Pierce showered her with attention but she wanted _him_ too. As thrilling as it was having the Lieutenant pay homage to her in his own way, Lucifer was familiar and inspiring she she _needed_ him. So when he bent down halfway to be closer to her without having to be drawn away from the display, she gripped the back of his head and yanked him down into a kiss.

By the time Marcus finished kissing his way down her right leg, Isobel’s brain was flooded with want and she moaned against the devil’s mouth in a way that made Lucifer chuckle. There was a spot on the woman’s ankle that always gotten to her when it was kissed, and the Lieutenant had found it. However when he changed course and began to make his way _up_ her right leg, Pierce gave an experimental nip to her calf which wasn’t appreciated. Something she made clear by jerking a bit and nearly kicking the man, and he quickly remedied her agitation by kissing the same spot with wet and parted lips. 

After his mouth climbed to the inside of her thigh, he sat up on his knees to remove his shirt and Lucifer found himself breaking the kiss between himself and Isobel. Who was contentedly blissed-out with softly closed eyes. Giving only a small needy hum in response to the dual absence.

Their physiques were utter opposites and the devil found it more than pleasing to gaze upon someone as muscularly defined as the man across from him. Lucifer was lean and slim and he knew he was quite the specimen, but seeing the Lieutenant even simply shirtless was a sight to behold. And his focus abruptly changed course. He adored Isobel, of course, but Marcus was new and exciting; and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t interested in what the _rest_ of the Lieutenant looked like. Which he fully intended on figuring out before the sun rose.

The way he moved onto the bed was almost fateful and it jostled the officer’s attention. Isobel, feeling the dip in the mattress, opened her eyes just in time to see the devil reach over her and gracefully grip Pierce by the shoulder to pull him closer. A wicked smile painted itself across her face when Marcus not only reciprocated the kiss, but gripped Lucifer’s hair as well. Prompting the angel to bite the other’s lower lip, and their embrace only grew more heated from that point on. Watching the two behave so obscenely was beyond arousing, and Isobel couldn’t wait to see what else the night had in store for the three of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IT IS!
> 
> If Isobel is a walking-talking universe of her own, is she proof of the multiverse theory?


	14. The Memory Of The Righteous

It was the sound of a buzzing phone that woke Lucifer and sent him squinting against the sunlight pouring in through the large window. He distinctly remembered being quite literally in the _middle_ of last night’s fun but somehow found himself on the far side of the bed. Not that he was complaining seeing as it allowed him to grope around the floor blindly for the offending electronic. Though in an effort to grab it he batted it further away, and was forced to get out of bed with a tired groan.

“Hello?” He half-yawned into the receiver without checking the caller id and perked up when a familiar voice responded on the other end. “Well good morning, Detective.” The cheeriness in his voice was the final key to waking Isobel, and she threw a pillow his way. Landing a harmless hit to his side. “No I haven’t, I’m afraid. Is everything alright?” Lucifer asked with a repressed smirk as the pillow fell to the floor in a muffled thump. “Right, yes. Well maybe try his cell again and if you need me to come in, just let me know. Toodle-loo.”

“Something up?” Isobel asked once he hung up and placed the phone on the nightstand, but the devil shook his head.

“Nothing interesting really. They just need Sleeping Beauty for some paperwork thing or another.” He nodded to the still sleeping Lieutenant and Isobel stifled a laugh while giving Marcus a light shove.

“Rise and shine, boss-man. Your people need you.”

Pierce barely heard her over his own grogginess, and when he first opened his eyes he seemed confused. It took a minute for him to recognize where he was but when he did, the memories of the previous night washed over him. 

It had been better than he expected, really, having sex with two celestials. There was something raw about it. Organic. He wouldn’t call it fucking, though. Or at least he wouldn't say that he ‘fucked’ Isobel. She had far too much control for it to be considered that. _Lucifer_ , however. He definitely fucked Lucifer. And the recollection drew a quiet curse from his lips.

“How does the zombie take his coffee?” Isobel asked when Marcus just stayed sitting up and facing forward, and the question tore his memories from him.

“Black.”

She scrunched up her nose as she put on last night’s pajamas. “Gross.”

“Espresso’s better.” Lucifer chimed in, stepping into his own pair of gray sweatpants and following Isobel when she made her way out the bedroom. But she made a fake gagging sound.

“No thanks.”

 

By the time Pierce joined them at the bar, Lucifer had dug an electric griddle out of some hidden cabinet and was mixing pancake batter while Isobel tended the coffee. Placing a cup of abysmal joe in front of the Lieutenant when he sat down, and he placed his own phone on the counter in return.

“It’s dead.” He sighed and Isobel looked the device over before handing him the end of a charging wire. 

“You’ve got the same as mine.”

Pierce plugged in it but looked slightly puzzled. He knew she had a phone, she’d texted him before. But it still seemed strange for creatures like her and Lucifer to need them in the first place.

“Izzy’s transfixed by all things wi-fi capable.” Lucifer teased while melting some butter on the griddle and Isobel swatted his arm. 

“You make it sound like I have some sort of addiction, sparrow.”

It was then that Pierce finally asked the question he kept forgetting he had. “What’s with the bird names?” And the pair across from him stopped what they were doing to look at each other a moment. 

With a sort of heavy silence, Lucifer poured some batter onto the cooktop and Isobel grabbed creamer from the fridge under the bar with a sigh.

“It’s a common idea that caged birds don’t sing.” She began while the devil stayed quiet. “And when Lucifer became Hell’s warden, he was trapped in a way. Barred from his home. His family. God caged the lightbringer in darkness, but he didn’t let it ruin him.” A sad reminiscent half-smile formed on her face at the memory. “I started calling him lark as a sort of metaphor because he stayed wild and strong even after being cast out. He’s my songbird of sorts. Always singing no matter what happens.”

As she spoke, Lucifer tried to tune her out and focus on his cooking. He’d happily listen to how great she thought he was, but he didn’t want to hear the tale of his fall. Even if it was the simplified ‘Satan fell from grace’ version. No matter how much time passed, it still stung.

Cutting off his wings hurt less than being thrown from Heaven, and despite her anecdote about him taking like it a champ, the angel knew he hadn’t handled it so well. After he was banished it took Isobel longer they both would’ve liked for her to visit him — she had _his_ mess to clean up after all — and when she did manage to descend from on high, he was a wreck.

He could still remember how he was sat on his throne with Maze by his side when Heaven’s Queen visited the underworld for the first time. How he accused her of not fighting for him. How he told her to get out. How she refused. It was the last time anyone spoke his birth name, save for that debacle with Dr. Linda, and from that point on he was fully _Lucifer_.

Still, the King of Hell wasn’t about to show his sorrow in front of Pierce of all people, so he simply flipped the pancakes and made a smart remark about how something as depressing as that was too heavy to go with breakfast. Though it wasn’t enough to fully lighten the mood and once the food was done, the three of them ate in relative silence while Pierce’s phone charged enough to be used. Pulling an unhappy sound from its owner when the screen lit up.

Two missed called and three text messages. All from Chloe, about Ella. There was never a day of peace in that department.

“Hey, what’s up?” He mused after calling her back. Acting as on nonchalant as he could considering he was at Lux the morning after a hookup with the devil and the devil’s handler. “Yeah, sorry about that. A pipe burst at my place and it’s been Hell trying to fix it.” Suddenly, the voice on the other end got very loud and he pulled the speaker away from his head. Isobel and Lucifer couldn’t make out what the person was saying, but it definitely wasn’t Chloe. “Just give Decker back her phone, Lopez.” Marcus huffed after a second and finally put the device back to his ear with a sigh. “Look. Tell her she can file a requisition form like everyone else. If it’s in the budget she’ll get it. If not, then no. I’ll be in as soon as I can.” When he hung up he glared at the snickering celestials across the counter.

“I do hope your pipes get fixed soon.” Lucifer teased while the Lieutenant finished his coffee quickly. “It would be a shame if there was water damage.”

“With an excuse like that, you could have the whole day off.” Isobel pointed out afterward and walked around the bar to lean against him suggestively. He tried to shrug her off but it was no use, and Lucifer chuckled while joining them on the other side of the counter. 

“I should have warned you, she’s like this in the morning too.”

“Like what?”

“Touchy-Feely.” Satan pointed out, gesturing to how she now was resting her head on the officer while tracing invisible lines on his own arm, and he kissed her forehead. She was happy and content; and affection caem par for the course with those emotions.

“I’d be hands on all the time if you were around more. But you’re off gallivanting playing cops and robbers.” The jest continued when she dramatically collapsed into a bar stool and pressed the back of her wrist to her forehead. “What’s a poor girl to do?”

The devil gave a slow sarcastic clap at her inner thespian and Pierce let out an involuntary laugh. “Well normal people have to go to work during the day.”

“Um, look around you, Marcus.” Isobel said while sitting up. “The three of us are far from _normal people_ , and technically, you’re the only one that actually is a people.”

“ _A people_ , huh?” 

“Yup! That’s what I said.”

“Well this people has to get to the precinct.” He reminded and stood. “Thanks for breakfast.”

 

“I think you like him.” Lucifer said after Pierce had gone, and Isobel looked up from her second cup of half-cream-half-coffee. The devil was doing the dishes and she was almost surprised he knew how to. 

“Of course I like him. You’ve seen me when I don’t like someone. I’m very bad at hiding it.”

“You’re talking about the time you nearly smote Uriel.” He mused with a pang of hurt in his voice. There was no way that Isobel _didn’t_ know about his brother’s death, or that he was the one who killed him, but she had yet to mention it.

“That, and the time when Gabriel thought it would be fun to play Cupid.”

At that memory, Lucifer laughed. It was so funny, he couldn’t help himself. Way back before the concept of Valentine's Day, Lucifer inspired his brother to play a prank on mortals. The two had always been close, and Gabriel dipped down to Hell from time to time with Amenadiel, and when Lucifer made some offhand comment about humans killing each other out of love, Gabriel couldn't help himself.

God’s messenger had picked some archaic city and planted love letters around the civilization out of curiosity, and in no time people began to fought about potential partners. Battles broke out over women and men alike, and from Lucifer and Gabriel’s standpoint, it had been rather hilarious. God however, had been less than pleased, as was Isobel, and she threatened to take away the angel’s horn, saying that as the older brother, he should have known better.

“But I hardly want to blast Marcus into oblivion.” She continued, pulling Lucifer from him memory and he gave her sly look while drying his hands.

“Do you think that would work?”

“Oh no. I’m not helping you end him.”

“Right. Because of the stricken glances you were throwing him over our brunch?”

“No, because it’s not my problem. I’m the Queen of Heaven, not _Babysitter of Men_. Your dad’s interest in humans was what fucked shit up in the first place. I won’t make that same mistake.” Her bluntness drew a knowing hum from him. A conflict of interest was never good for any Crown.

“I meant to tell you, before you distracted me, last night…” Isobel rolled her eyes at the change of subject. Was he really going to call everything that happened a simple distraction? “Your flat’s finished.”

“What? When!?” She was far too excited and Lucifer led her to the elevator and pressed the call button. 

“Yesterday. It’s two floors down and very nice if I do say so myself.” 

After the lift arrived they stepped in together, still in their pajamas, and Isobel suddenly felt uneasy. She’d been in L.A. for weeks and having her own space would definitely prolong her stay. How long could she be on Earth without repercussions?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are with the 'morning after' and Isobel is finally about to have her own space at Lux!


	15. A Living Sacrifice

The apartment was beautiful and it reminded Isobel of home. Not of the white walls and glistening metals of the realm she presided over, but rather the sanctum she found within herself. There were times, in calmer eras and younger eons, when her consciousness blissfully receded into the depths of her being. Her body was merely a vessel for something greater, and indulging that greatness made Isobel feel more like a Queen than sitting atop a silver throne ever could.

Describing it to others was always difficult, but she likened it to flying. To floating. Mindfully drifting along the stars and nebulas wrapped up within her like a lucid dream. Admiring galaxies while dancing in their arms. How strange it was, to be a universe aware of its own existence. To be the only one of her kind. 

The opalescent black floors gleamed like the expanse of space while the light pewter walls granted it an openness. An illusion of vastness. And it was clear that Lucifer knew what he was doing, or at least his designer did, because the neon colored throw pillows dotted against the white couches and armchair brightened the area like glowing elements. Making it look all the more astral.

Darker than Heaven but brighter than Hell. Just like her.

 

Amenadiel, however, wasn’t so fond if it. He appreciated the beauty of the apartment, but not what it represented. Earth wasn’t Isobel’s home and she shouldn't be nesting on the planet. Something he was reminded of when he stepped of the elevator, and the sight of her perched on the sofa made him inhale stronger than he meant to.

The clothes in Heaven were more ornate than anything on God’s blue marble, but Isobel managed to exude palpable regality wearing a mere gold-colored bespoke knee length dress; and the gravity of it pulled memories to the front of the angel’s mind. Ones he thought nearly forgotten from his time among humans.

Looking back on it, while having Isobel appointed Queen was something no one asked for, she was the obvious choice for monarch. It had taken a while, but eventually Amenadiel managed to admit to himself that even he wouldn’t have been able to reign in Heaven the way she did. The fighting in the Silver City didn’t miraculously stop with God’s decree, and was her personal closeness with many of the angels — and their subsequent backing — that finally restored peace. He would not have been able to unify his siblings in a such way. Nor would any other angel.

Each one of God’s winged children had been too bitter with one another to follow their own brother or sister. They were a family sour about their relation to each other, but Isobel hadn’t solidified them as kin. Instead, she brought them together as the force their father intended them to be. An army.

Amenadiel could still remember how powerful she looked back home. With glowing eyes and iridescent hair, and the color of the dress she was wearing resembled that of the longer, more elegant one she donned for her coronation. Despite the few changes she made to appear mortal, Isobel still looked powerful. Influential. Almost too much so. A creature like her did not belong in a world of men.

“Were you planning on staying long?” He asked while taking a seat across from her. “Or are you just sick of dealing with all the women Lucifer brings home?”

Isobel still didn’t understand how her _particular_ relationship with the Devil had slipped the attention of God’s first born, but she was thankful it did. Someone as prudish and righteous as Amenadiel would surely disapprove. If not condemn it, and them, outright. As much as she disliked him calling her ‘sister’, she understood where it stemmed from. She had been young when he was born, or at least appeared young, and in many ways they grew up together. 

True, they weren't as close as they probably should be considering their youth, but Amenadiel’s sense of fellowship with her was reasonable. Unfortunately he was under the illusion that his familial view of her was reciprocated. However, it wasn’t. Nor did his siblings see her as some older-sister figure like he did. Which was another thing the angel seemed oblivious to. 

He was the only one who viewed her as a branch on the family tree, and it meant that if he found out about Isobel and Lucifer’s less than innocent connection, he’d view it as incest. Something which would prove to be an insurmountable headache in itself.

“He’s really more respectable than you give him credit for.” She mused about God’s youngest while pulling a scoff from the eldest.

“You think so?”

“I _know_ so. It’s a shame I can’t say the same for you.”

His brow flattened at the subtle jab. “What?”

“Don’t play innocent, Amenadiel, you haven’t exactly been upstanding. What with lying, and resurrecting the hellbound, and sleeping with a demon. _Lucifer_ is the Devil, not you.” She reminded. “ _You_ don’t get a pass for messing with that kind of sacrilege. If you still had your wings, I’d remove myself.” The calmness of her voice left Amenadiel speechless. The fact that she’d found out about Lucifer’s wings alone made it surprising she wasn’t in a rage. It was true that he and others conspired to keep her in the dark about it, and perhaps it was selfish, but how she could she threaten him with dismemberment so calmly?

“I did all that to-”

“To get him back to Hell, I know. Because you hated it there. Everyone hates it there, that’s the point. But he was ready to give up his own happiness and go back there, all to keep one human alive. Whereas you were willing to throw him back into the pit just so you didn’t have to deal with it anymore. He was self-sacrificing. You were not.” Isobel’s tone grew colder the more she spoke about his disregard for the lightbringer. “Maybe, just _maybe_ your father took your wings and gave them to Lucifer because he deserves divinity more than you.”

“You can’t honestly believe that.”

“It makes more sense than your _‘dad’s testing me via Satan’_ , theory. He already tested you, and you failed, so stop meddling in shit that doesn’t concern you. Stay out of your brother’s business.”

“Is this about his deal with Cain?” He asked with accusatory eyes while thinking back on the causal, if not friendly way she interacted with the Lieutenant; and the question broke her patience.

“It’s about everything!” She cried in exasperation while rising to her feet and pacing back and forth a few steps to ease her pent up agitation. “Don’t you get it? All those years ago when Lucifer first came to L.A. you were supposed to retrieve him, but you ended up making a deal with him instead. _That_ decision got you appointed interim warden. A job which, had you focused on, would’ve allowed you to keep your wings. Freewill is a sin, remember?” She asked rhetorically, as if he could forget with how many times he’d rebuked Lucifer’s desire for it. “There are consequences when you don’t stick to your father’s script. She stopped in front of him with open arms and a look that seemed to brand him an idiot. “Like trying to get your mother back into Heaven? What the fuck was that about?!”

“You _know_ she didn’t belong in Hell!”

“That doesn’t matter, it wasn’t my choice to send her there, and it was stupid of you to try to bring her home. Your father locked her up himself!”

“That doesn’t make it right.” 

There was a pause between them as they both recovered. Hearing him say that God made a mistake was mind blowing.

“The ideas of right and wrong are irrelevant, Mennie. It’s about making choices and dealing with the consequences. Did you think it would be peaceful if she came back to Heaven? Do you think God would have been happy to see her? Do you think she would have been happy to see _me_ still sat on a throne and ruling over her children?”

“You mean the throne you abandoned?” He spat while standing and rounding to the back of his chair to put some space between them, though Isobel only sighed heavily. The conversation had come full circle and they were back to discussing her stay on Earth.

“I did _not_ abandon it.”

“Really?” The angel gestured openly at the lavish apartment. “Because from where I stand you’ve made quite the life for yourself here.”

Again, she sighed. If not a bit more steadying. Heaven’s Queen was not used to being called out on her crap. “It’s not permanent. I’m going back, I have to. I just don’t know when.”

“So you’ve left my brothers and sisters to their own devices indefinitely. Yeah, that’s _real_ wise.”

“Come on, you know me better than that. I didn’t just sneak off. There’s a substitute me while I’m gone.” She threw back in response to his sarcasm as they entered the realm of snarking peers and left the holier-than-thou undertones behind.

“Who?”

“Azrael.” When Amenadiel scoffed she crossed her arms. “Who would _you_ have suggested then?”

“I don’t know. Michael? Gabriel?”

“The wonder twins? How about _not_. Older doesn’t mean better, though honestly you have been my first choice, but…” Isobel let it end there. She’d brought up his fall from grace enough for one day. “Besides, now that Lady-Death’s knife is gone, no one’s afraid she’ll kill them.”

“Uriel-”

The name set a somberness into the air and Amenadiel stopped after he said it. Hearing his brother’s name spoken aloud suddenly made him forget what he was going to say. After so much fighting in Heaven with no casualties, it was almost prophetic that an angel was slain on Earth. By the one God once declared to be his greatest soldier, no less. 

“Yeah. Azrael wasn’t thrilled when he stole her blade.” Isobel said, refusing to let the solemness swallow them. However it seemed Amenadiel wanted to give into it.

“What happened after… What happened in Heaven after he died?”

“Things were bleak for a little while. We all mourned. But no one really blames Lucifer.” She confessed and caught the angel’s look of surprise. “They don’t blame Uriel either, but he _was_ the one who stole the Blade of Death and when you duel with the Devil, well… Either way it would have been a loss.”

Despite her own personal dislike for the predictor, Isobel had indeed mourned his death with the angels. Losing anyone from Heaven was harrowing, and she mourned a piece of Lucifer as well. Innocence came in many forms and by killing his brother, God’s youngest lost another part of his. She’d be eternally grateful he gained the upper hand in the fight, but knew such an act of bloodshed would haunt him. It’s why she didn’t discuss it with him the other morning. Lucifer didn’t need to relive something so gruesome or witness her twisted sense of relief over his victory. 

“Did my father-”

“God didn’t say anything about it, no. The last time anyone heard from him was when he told you to bless the detective’s parents.”

“You knew about that?”

“Not at the time.” She clarified. “I found out a while after you pieced it together — After you told Lucifer. He screams at Heaven enough that sometimes it comes through as prayers.”

It was funny to imagine Lucifer talking to the sky like he’d done so many times before, and equally as amusing to imagine how he’d react to finding out that, in essence, his frustrated rants were sometimes interpreted as holy communication. The thought made them both laugh, and a smile from it lingered on Amenadiel’s face.

“He loves her, you know. Chloe.” He said warmly. “They belong together.”

It sounded shakespearean and Isobel agreed with a subtle nod. Under her lingering guise of Behavioral Therapist, she’d spent the occasional day at the precinct watching the pair interact. Listening to them talk. Learning more than she wanted to.

When she first found out about the detective, it was thrilling. Lucifer deserved that type of joy in his life and it was surreal to see how the creator of sin fell for a descendent of Eve. But the more she observed, the more the celestial realized that what Lucifer had with Chloe, he could never have with her. 

Isobel would always be his better. She would would always be his Queen. An extension of his father. Earth was only their vacation, and a common ground for them to temporarily overlook the differences between them. One, containing the blackness of the universe but ruling over light, and the other, a harbinger of brightness cast into the shadows. Whether they liked it or not, whether they _realized_ it or not, her grace and his sin would always separate them.

The only thing keeping him tethered to her was that Chloe had yet to see him for what he was. But Lucifer was destined for the detective like Jesus for the cross, and whenever she finally saw his truth, Isobel would be the one crucified. 

Pinned to her throne in silent agony and left to observe the paradise they found in each other. Yes, Lucifer loved Isobel, but he loved the mortal more. He just didn’t know it yet. When he discovered it to be true, she’d lose him; and having every star burst within her would hurt the First Formation less. Yet she would allow it all to happen.

She would not burn down their Eden before it could bloom. She would not sabotage their utopia. The Queen of Heaven would not get between her Prince and his intended; because even if he wasn’t hers, Lucifer would be alright. Most importantly, with Chloe, he’d be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone else in the world ships Lucifer and Chloe, while Isobel ships him with his own happiness. So, by default, Chloe. She's just not thrilled about it.


	16. Live In Harmony

_Dancing._ If there was any other platonic activity that could make two people feel so connected, Isobel had yet to find it. There was no better way to spend an afternoon, and the cocktail of sunshine and melody turned the penthouse into a private wonderland. A utopia where Lucifer was hers and hers alone.

His form was perfect when he spun her out, and with his back to the balcony and his arm outstretched, the devil certainly looked the part of ‘stylish dancer.’ The way his jacket was cast aside and his sleeves were rolled up matched the music far more than Isobel’s shorts and t-shirt, but the clashing attire did nothing to their synchronization. 

After he reeled her in, her bare feet continued to match each step of his louboutins in a routine that would have made the 1930’s jealous. But when the tune changed from “Hooked On Swing” to a Percy Sledge ballad, their stance changed. 

Gone was the space between them, and the loose, wild movements turned into a lazy waltz. The new song was far more romantic than the last, and it showed in how they drew each other in with clasped hands and touching torsos. Slowly rocking back and forth to the music. Enjoying the extra floor space that came from clearing the couches away.

“You know, I think I miss your usual clothes.” Lucifer mused, with the change in pace allowing for a calmer breathing pattern. “You always looked exceptionally stunning in archaic fashion.”

Isobel laughed lightly at the description, as accurate as it was. The draping gowns and flowing fabrics found in Heaven did seem like things that would be worn by Roman or Babylonian aristocrats, and in a way she missed them too. The authority they exuded. The decadence. But she’d never get away with wearing something so lax as her current outfit while atop the throne, and was taking advantage of the opportunity.

“Well I think _suits_ suit you better than chitons, robes, or himations ever did.”

The praise had him grinning. “Really?”

“They’re much less saintly and more gentlemanly. You know, hedonistic but classy.”

It was his turn to chuckle, and when he did she rested her head on his shoulder. Enjoying the slow sway of the box-step as the music continued to lead them across the floor. It wasn’t until several beats later that he spoke again. “I ended my deal with the Lieutenant.” 

While Isobel didn’t move her head in response to the confession, her eyes lifted to see his face as best they could. From her position against him, her surprise couldn’t be seen, but it was there, and the shock of him going back on his word was heard in her voice.

“ _Ended_ , not met?”

“Yes…” He sighed heavily. “After what happened the other day, I think it’s for the best.”

“You mean the bomb scare.”

It was a statement, not a question, but he nodded all the same. That entire day had been disastrous. Not only had Lucifer and Marcus carried out their plan to resurrect Abel after Isobel voiced her _clear_ disapproval, they also managed to put the soul of Earth’s first murder victim in the wrong body. And then _lose_ that body. If that wasn't enough turmoil, the series of events came to a head when Lucifer, Chloe, and Abel found themselves in the same room as an armed explosive. In the end, everyone was stressed out, and Amenadiel’s voice skipped around in the devil’s head like a scratched CD. He _did_ have a lot more to lose than he realized.

“If something had happened to the detective, it would have been my fault. Clearly my pact with Cain angered the ass-hat that is my father, and Chloe was put in danger because of it — I had no choice.”

“Easy, nightingale.” She soothed against his rushed words and pressed her lips to his jaw gently. Reassuring him as they continued dancing.

Isobel didn’t have the heart to tell him that she believed it all to be an unholy coincidence rather than divine will, but either way she could relate. She’d wandered into the precinct that night looking for him, and had arrived just in time to hear the muffled explosion come across the phone. 

She knew that Chloe made Lucifer vulnerable, and she knew he’d been wounded before, but the chance of his death always seemed like a fairytale. A far away possibility. Something that _could_ happen but never would. However, hearing that small blast was more than a dose of reality, it was a slap in the face. It made Isobel realize that Chloe wouldn’t only take Lucifer away, but she might end up taking his _life_ away as well. Leaving Heaven’s Queen with a very difficult question. What was worth more, the lightbringer or his happiness?

The dilemma gave her not only heartache, but a headache as well. She was supposed to watch over the angels and guide them. She was supposed to know what was best for them, and for the first time she found herself feeling unfit to rule. Choosing Lucifer’s survival over his own joy felt like a betrayal against him, but letting him lead a life of mortality was a death sentence. Unable to bear the consequences of either option, Isobel often wound up putting it from her mind completely. And this time was no different.

“How did Marcus take it?” She asked, redirecting her internal concern, but Lucifer only shrugged.

“He’s not pleased, obviously, but he’ll survive.”

The unintended joke had her snickering and he spun her under his arm at a particularly robust part of the song. “Maybe I should talk to him.”

“Whatever for?”

“I don’t know…” She floated back into stride when they were fully joined once again. “Just to make sure he’s okay.”

“That man’s been alive for millenia, surely he’s learned to cope with _not_ dying by now.”

“Still, friends comfort friends, right? It’s the nice thing to do.”

“Yes.” Lucifer hummed quietly and changed course so as not to run into the piano. _“Friends.”_

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You are rather _close_ with him, you know.”

Isobel rolled her eyes. “And you’re close to Decker.”

“Well, yes, but the detective and I are partners, Izzy. Plus she’s quite principled. Pierce is seedy, at best.”

“Seedy?”

“What with being the first murderer and all.” He reminded. “Not to mention being a literal abomination in the eyes of God.”

“Since when do you care about what your father thinks of someone?”

“I’m simply saying that you can do better. That’s all.”

Lucifer was right about the camaraderie between Isobel and Cain, and she didn’t even try to deny it. Ever since the somewhat random threesome, the two of them gravitated toward each other more and more. Often talking over drinks at Lux’s bar, or spending an evening in her apartment. And it was endearing that the devil thought Pierce wasn’t deserving enough of his Queen, but if he looked harder he would have seen that Isobel attached herself to others as well.

Ella’s pep matched her own far too much for them _not_ to get along, and Isobel’s unexpected love of food trucks led to her and Dan becoming virtual besties over a single meal. Not to mention how well she and Linda got on after discussing the complications that came with having immortal beings on Earth. And, despite the lost look in her eyes, even Charlotte was decent company.

It wasn’t just Marcus that Isobel was spending time with, it was _everyone_. They were distractions from the inevitable. As much as she cared for Lucifer, he was a reminder of just how problematic things were becoming, and she was preparing herself. Padding her life. That way, if something happened to him, if she lost him in the most ultimate of ways, she’d have _someone_ to fall back on.

Isobel knew Lucifer didn’t notice it all and doubted he ever would. The free time she spent with others was usually the time he spent with Decker, and with how often he failed to see things as part of something bigger, it was no wonder that her growing social circle fell into his blind spot. But she didn’t mention it. Choosing instead to assure him that Marcus was merely a friend, and matching his fast paced foxtrot when Percy Sledge turned into Frank Sinatra.

After all, in _that_ moment he was hers, and she was his. No one had to fall. They could just lean on each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow, it's Saturday and I'm sorry this chapter is so late but it was a pain in the ass. I guess I should be thankful that it's the first section of this story to give me problems, but like... I was so tired all week and just couldn't figure out what I wanted to with this. But after starting three different scenarios and re-watching S3E16 two more times, this is what I settled on. Something light and airy but still introspective. If there are typos, I apologize, I literally _just_ finished writing this. I'll correct them if/when I spot them.
> 
> [[Click here to find out what the heck chitons and himations are]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_ancient_Greece)


End file.
